Chris Bosh announces new season of NBA Jam in India

NBA Jam - a basketball and music festival organized by the NBA in India and Sony SIX - is set to get bigger and better this year.

Chris Bosh won his second consecutive NBA Championship with the Heat less than a month ago, and he's decided to celebrate it - along with the Larry O'Brien trophy that he helped lift - in Mumbai. Where else, right? Well, if you've been keeping track, Bosh has been pretty active in Mumbai over the past few days, from trying out some Indian food to mingling with fringe Bollywood types.

But Bosh got down to business on Wednesday morning, taking the opportunity to announce the next iteration of NBA-India's hugely popular NBA Jam. A free event featuring 3x3 basketball and performances by musical artists, NBA Jam will be held this September in four Indian cities: Hyderabad, Bangalore, Delhi, and Mumbai. The 3x3 tournament will culminate with a National Finals in Mumbai on September 29 and the winning team will get to compete against three NBA Legends (we wonder who?) for the first time.

Nearly 500 teams are expected to participate in the 3x3 contests this year as opposed to 400 last year. This edition of the event will include women’s divisions for the first time. In each city, 120 teams will compete across two age divisions for men and women, 16-18 and 19-23. Winning teams from each city will be invited to the National Finals in Mumbai, where they will play in a small-scale replica NBA arena.

Sony SIX, the league’s broadcast partner in India, will create content around each event stop, integrating celebrities from the network’s top shows, and will air a 60 minute program showcasing the National Finals.

NBA Jam will have free fan activities including a slam dunk contest, basketball clinics, 3-point shootouts, skills challenges. Apart from this, there will be a technology boutique featuring social media fan integration, an NBA photos and video wall, and a gaming zone for fans. Each stop will also feature free concerts from leading artists to keep fans entertained.

"NBA Jam is a great event that brings excitement and energy of the NBA to the fans in India," Bosh told reporters in Mumbai, "It is exciting to see so much passion for basketball here and I look forward to working with the youth during my visit."

“NBA Jam will engage both the passionate and casual fan with a mix of basketball and live entertainment,”said Yannick Colaco, Managing Director, NBA India. “SONY SIX is an ideal partner that is committed to developing basketball further in India, and we are excited to bring an authentic NBA experience to fans across India.”

NBA Jam was last held in India two years ago, and it was launched by former NBA star and NBA TV analyst Steve Smith.