Future sports franchise will redefine pro teams’ values
Growing up in Bombay, I played cricket and soccer on Juhu Beach and idolized Indian cricket stars like the Nawab of Pataudi and Sunil Gavaskar. Countless hours on the pitch taught me about discipline, teamwork and competition. When I arrived in Boston at age 17 to study engineering, these lessons had a profound impact on my life — setting me on the entrepreneurial path to building a multibillion-dollar tech company in the heart of Silicon Valley. But nothing could have prepared me to leave the company I built for over 20 years. It was my life’s work and signing over the papers relinquishing ownership was one of the hardest decisions I have ever had to make.
It was not until I visited India with NBA Commissioner Adam Silver and Vlade Divac in 2014 that I realized it was the right decision. As we toured my home country, launching the Jr. NBA program and assessing whether India was ready to host an NBA game, we visited a hospital ward in Bombay that treated disadvantaged young people with terminal illnesses. I have never seen anyone smile so big as one of the patients did when Vlade leaned down next to a gurney to share a joke. Thanks to basketball, a Serbian-born player who immigrated to the United States was in India and brightening one of the darkest days of this young person’s life.
At that moment in the Indian hospital, I witnessed firsthand how the platform we have as an NBA franchise is bigger and more meaningful than in any profession I have ever had. In 2013, when I first pitched the league on my vision for Sacramento, I spoke about NBA 3.0 — where teams utilize technology to enhance the fan experience, use sport as an agent for change, and grow the game of basketball globally. The reason why basketball transcends borders is simple. The rules are easy to understand, you can play by yourself or with a team, and it takes nothing more than a ball and a basket to play. It does not matter where you are from, what language you speak, your religion, skin color or socioeconomic status — anybody can get in the game.
Increasingly, we are seeing the game find new fans abroad. Since that visit to India five years ago, more than 10 million boys and girls have participated in Jr. NBA camps and tickets to our upcoming games Friday and Saturday in my hometown nearly sold out in two hours. In the next decade, the NBA will certainly see an Indian star in the league.
Beyond transcending borders, basketball is a chance to accomplish greater things. When Stephon Clark was tragically killed last year, we took action and started a league-wide conversation about social injustice. When North Carolina chose to discriminate based on sexual orientation, we spoke out.
Why should the Olympics be the only moment the world sets aside its differences and comes together? The platform we have as professional sports teams is a privilege and an incredible responsibility to enhance the lives of those we touch. While a franchise’s principal objective is to win games, it can also have a broader purpose, one that helps to further motivate winning and in turn creates a virtuous cycle advancing the broader mission of doing good.
I am unbelievably proud that our team will be part of the first-ever NBA games in India. We are redefining the values of professional sports teams by doing our part to make the world a better place and thinking about our community not just in terms of miles around our arena but across international borders. We are building the franchise of the future and our commitment to the communities we touch runs deep. Tapping into the immense social network of sports fans around the globe, imagine the transformational change we can achieve collectively if we all strive to connect new cultures, experiences and ideas. We hope others join in the game.