Indiana Pacers, Sacramento Kings, and more NBA legends land in Mumbai for first-ever NBA India Games

When I started this blog, almost exactly ten years ago, the mission was to capture the spirit and stories behind Indian basketball, the NBA, and any fringe ideas that somehow connected the NBA with India. There weren't many of the latter. I wrote back then about trips made by Kevin Garnett and Robert Parish to India, which flew so under the radar in the pre-social-media explosion that hardly anyone in the nation knew about it. I wrote about Dikembe Mutumbo showing up at the St. Dominic Savio High School in Mumbai with disbelieving excitement. I celebrated little-known clips, like the NDTV interviewing Shaq at the All Star Game about India, because there was so little other content to look for.

10 years later, with a slew of NBA activities in India including grassroots programmes, the elite Academy, India-specific programming, and superstar visits, we have come far away from those early days. This weekend, the NBA will host the first-ever NBA India Games at the NSCI Dome in Mumbai, two preseason matchups between the Indiana Pacers and the Sacramento Kings. It's the first time in history that entire NBA teams are in India, on our home soil, to play in an official NBA match - even though it's only an exhibition.

For years, I've kept a running list of every NBA player to ever have set foot in India, from Garnett in the mid-2000s to Kevin Durant a couple of years ago, and dozens upon dozens more in between. It was a growing list, but still manageable, as player visits happened a few times a year, and with some research, I had been able to keep track of every such event, organised by the NBA or otherwise.

Now, the cup runneth over. Landing in Mumbai this week, some of the players include: Malcolm Brogdon, Jeremy Lamb, TJ McConnell, Aaron Holiday, Naz Mitrou-Long, CJ Wilcox, Justin Holiday, TJ Leaf, Doug McDermott, Domantas Sabonis, Myles Turner, TJ Warren, Goga Bitazde (Pacers), Bogdan Bogdanovic, Yogi Ferrell, De'Aaron Fox, Kyle Guy, Buddy Hield, Cory Joseph, Trevor Ariza, Marvin Bagley III, Harrison Barnes, Nemanja Bjelica, Richuan Holmes, Isaiah Pineiro, Caleb Swanigon, Dwayne Dedmon (Kings) and many more. In addition, the coaching and executive staff of the two teams include more former NBAaers, such as Nate McMillan, Popeye Jones (Pacers), Vlade Divac, and Luke Walton (Kings). This is the second India trip for Barnes and Divac.

Additionally, NBA legends Detlef Schrempf (formerly Mavericks, Pacers, SuperSonics, Trail Blazers) and Jason Williams (formerly Kings, Grizzlies, Heat, Magic) are also in India as 'icons' of the Pacers and Kings respectively.

There will be many more NBAers setting food in India for this big game, and I'll make sure to keep track and update our (massive) list accordingly. For now, make sure to enjoy the game and follow my daily updates all week on NBA India's official website. Follow me on Twitter @hoopistani for real-time updates live from Mumbai from all the major events.

We've come so far for NBA and India - and hopefully, we have a lot further to go!