The NBA will head to India in 2019 to play two pre-season games in what it claims are the first matches played in the country by a North American sports league.
“Our inaugural NBA India Games will help further untap the enormous basketball potential in a country with a thriving sports culture and a growing, young and engaged population,” NBA commissioner Adam Silver said in a statement on Thursday.
The Indiana Pacers and Sacramento Kings will contest the two exhibition contests on October 4 and 5 at the NSCI Dome in Mumbai.
In addition to the games, the NBA will carry out various promotional and fan activities.
The league has had an office in the country since 2011.
“The Sacramento Kings are proud to be playing in the first NBA games ever held in India,” said Kings owner Vivek Ranadive, a Mumbai native.
“As an Indian-American, it is an honour to help bring this historic moment to the country where I was raised.
“The sport is experiencing tremendous growth in India and we are excited about continuing to expand the NBA’s reach to fans across the globe.”
The NBA, which is the National Basketball Association, is a men’s professional basketball league in North America comprising 30 teams, with 29 in the US and one in Canada.
It is widely regarded as the premier men’s professional basketball league in the world.
dpa/NAN.
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