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Dedicated to basketball development for over three decades until this death a year ago, Rajesh Patel is today's addition to the Hoopistani Indian Basketball Hall of Fame . For over 33 years, Patel excelled at coaching and developing Madhya Pradesh, and more prominently, for Chhattisgarh basketball programmes, helping dozens of young players win medals and achieve their dreams. He passed away in May 2018 at age 62. Patel will be remembered as one of the most dedicated and hard-working leaders in Indian basketball. He played briefly for Madhya Pradesh in his youth and joined the Bhilai Steel Plant (BSP) in 1980. By 1985, he turned all of his efforts into coaching the basketball recruits at Bhilai. When Chhattisgarh gained independent statehood from Madhya Pradesh, Patel became the state’s basketball secretary. He set up a residential basketball academy in Bhilai and recruited dozens of players from nearby regions — many of whom were from tribal or underprivileged backgrounds — to t...

Even today, decades after he took his official final shot from the game, the legend of Abbas Moontasir rings loud around his neighbourhood in Nagpada, around Mumbai, and across the nation. The feisty guard who picked up the game in some of Mumbai's roughest bastis went on to become a legend for the game, captaining the Indian national team, starring at the international stage in the 1960s-70s, and winning the coveted Arjuna Award. He is the newest addition to the Hoopistani Indian Basketball Hall of Fame . Born in Mumbai in 1942, Moontasir picked up basketball from American missionaries in the Nagpada area, in what is now known as the iconic Late Bachookhan Municipal Playground. He played for Bombay University, Maharashtra state, and then reached his peak with Western Railways. His international debut also came in his hometown against an Australian side in 1960. Moontasir captained Team India in two FIBA Asia Championships, in 1969 and 1975, and was also the member of the India...

Harrison Barnes probably didn't think that his summer would unfold this way. The former NBA champ (with the Golden State Warriors) started the 2018-19 season with the Dallas Mavericks, but was traded before the deadline in February to another rebuilding squad, the Sacramento Kings. And, less than two months into his stint with Sacramento, Barnes is not a representative for the Kings in the opposite end of the globe, carrying the team's flag to India in anticipation for the biggest offseason yet in Indian NBA history. In October this year, the NBA will hold two preseason games in India - between the Kings and Indiana Pacers - for the first time in history. Barnes, a smooth-scoring forward and the newest member of the Kings, will be visiting India to promote the continuing growth of basketball in the country and the upcoming NBA India Games 2019 from April 28 - May 3, 2019, announced the NBA . Barnes will first stop in Delhi NCR on April 28 to attend the Reliance Foundation Jr....

Today's entry into the Hoopistani Indian Basketball Hall of Fame is a throwback - way back - to one of the game's earliest stars, Sarbjit Singh . After the Basketball Federation of India (BFI) was formed in 1950, Independent India tentatively began to field its first international teams in events like the Asian Games and other international tournaments. Singh was a major part of those teams, as well as a star domestically for Services, who enjoyed national championship success in the 50s. Singh stamped his place permanently in 1961, when he became the first basketball player to be conferred the Arjuna Award, in the first year that the Awards were handed in India by the Ministry of Sports. Click here for more of the Hoopistani Indian Basketball Hall of Fame.

To preview the upcoming NBA playoffs, NBA analyst and commentator Akshay Manwani joins Hoopdarshan's co-hosts Kaushik Lakshman and Karan Madhok to discuss the battle-royale in the East, the greatness of Giannis and Harden, the challengers to Golden State in the West, and the players, teams, and moments that have defined this NBA season so far. In addition, Kaushik and Karan also discuss recent Indian basketball news, including the hiring of new head coach Veselin Matic, the launch of Red Bull Reign in India, and the Indian Basketball Hall of Fame. Hoopdarshan is the truest voice of Indian basketball , and since we're such hopeless fans of the game, it will become the voice of everything basketball related we love, from the NBA to international hoops, too. On every episode of Hoopdarshan, we will be inviting a special guest to interview or chat to about a variety of topics. With expert insight from some of the brightest and most-involved people in the world of Indian basket...

There has been a recent explosion of Indian basketball stars making a name for themselves abroad, playing in Japan, playing in Australia, in the US, even getting all the day to the NBA draft. But before there was all this, there was Geethu. Geethu Anna Rahul (formerly Jose) is one of the greatest players to ever set foot on a basketball court in India - in any gender. Through a scintillating career over the past decade, Rahul emerged as an indomitable force in the Indian domestic scene, played pro abroad, got a sniff of the WNBA, and ended up with the Arjuna Award. For her accomplishments, she's the newest addition to the Hoopistani Indian Basketball Hall of Fame. Born in Kottayam, Kerala, Rahul began her career with Kerala's team, and later, with Southern Railway in Tamil Nadu in the early 2000s. She shot up to 6-foot-2 by the time she became a senior player, and soon overshadowed every other player of her generation. She played in eleven national championships for Railways, ...

I love the NBA Playoffs more than I love most things in my life. Real life is filled with little daily challenges, like bargaining with the auto-wallah, or worrying about the elections, or making sure I don't crack my laptop's motherboard again. But the NBA world is the tonic for all the pains, and there is no better amrit for long life like the postseason. And this time, thanks to the help of Nation of Sport , I was able to crank up my playoff-enthusiasm to the next level. Earlier this week, I joined the NoS YouTube programme 'Basketball Babas' - as the third 'Baba' alongside Jonathan Rego and Ashwin Gopinath - to sit down for nearly two hours and discuss the long road ahead for each team in both conferences. In this special two-part episode, we spoke about each of the eight first-round matchups, made our predictions for which teams will work their way to the Finals, and even imagined the best-case narratives for each of the 16 teams to possibly win the 2019 ...

One of the greatest and most influential coaches in Indian basketball history, the late Dr. Sankaran Subramanian is the second inductee into the Hoopistani Indian Basketball Hall of Fame . Subramanian passed away in 2013 at age 75, after offering over 40 years to the service of Indian basketball. His legacy is particularly highlighted by his leadership at the Ludhiana Basketball Academy, where he helped nurture dozens of India's best players. Subramanian was born in Pirancheri village in the Tirunelveli district of Tamil Nadu. He played basketball for his school and college teams and later joined Indian Air Force in the year 1958. He took to coaching after that in 1968, working with the Air Force team and with Services and leading them to wins in several national level tournaments. From 1968 onwards, he had been thoroughly involved in coaching and developing players in Punjab and for the Indian national team. Subramanian was the coach of the Punjab state team, the director and chi...

The very first inductee into the Hoopistani Indian Basketball Hall of Fame is Ajmer Singh Chopra , the 6’5” swingman who is one of the most-accomplished Indian hoopers in history. Chopra’s career highlights include starring as India’s best player in our only Olympic basketball appearance (Moscow 1980), winning the 1982 Arjuna Award, and dominating in many more international and domestic championships. Chopra was born in Rukanpur village near Karnal (Haryana) in 1953, just three years after the establishment of the Basketball Federation of India (BFI). He moved to Kota to hone his basketball skills, where he played for Rajasthan University. Chopra’s skills got him hired by Indian Railways, whom he represented domestically for several years of success, and continued to work for after retirement from the game. He played in 22 consecutive national championships for Haryana, Rajasthan, and Railways, and finished with 8 gold medals. Internationally, Chopra represented India in multiple FIB...

It's been around 90 years since basketball was rumoured to be first played on Indian soil. By 1934, India conducted their first national championship; got affiliation to FIBA by 1936; formed the Basketball Federation of India (BFI) soon after independence in 1950; and fielded an international team for the Asian Games in New Delhi in 1951. India has been a consistent participant in Asian basketball championships, Asian Games, and other international tournaments for the past 70 years and in 1980, the Men's basketball team even played in the Olympic Games in Russia! It hasn't always been a successful history relative to other nations in Asia (and worldwide), but in the span of the past near-century, India has produced a number of dominant players, game-changing coaches, and other important officials and administrators that have left a mark. Often, they did so while swimming against the tide, succeeding in a sport that struggled with internal strife and external ignorance. In ...