Indian Basketball's Battle for Existence - No Stars, Coaches or Courts
Basketball is certainly one of the most widely enjoyed games in the world, fast-paced in nature and enjoyed by a million.
Great professional leagues play in countries like the United States, China, and even Spain. Though in India this sport has been unable to see much acceptance of itself and yet lags back behind cricket, kabaddi, and even badminton.
Despite this great potential, basketball still runs helter-skelter in India to a point that it runs irrelevance because of various reasons. Some of them include lack of players, lack of stars, poor coaching, and poor infrastructure.
The Scarcity of Players
India boasts of an infinitesimally small pool of professional basketball players. This is because in 2025, there were less than 500 registered professional basketball players available in the entire country.
This narrow pool is not enough to make Indian men’s basketball players compete in international competition.
The team ranks around 80th globally, according to the FIBA ranking. In India, many players are part-time as they are engaged in some other job while playing basketball, as they don’t have an alternate source of career after basketball.
This diminutive player strength is made worse by an unorganized pipeline. In contrast to cricket, with schools and leagues galore to federate talent at an early age, Indian basketball has no integrated systems to unearth talent from an early age.
Many school and college-level leagues, which basketball lacks, ensure that youngsters never get an opportunity to train at a higher level.
There are no Big Names to Inspire
Most important reasons why basketball has not captured Indian imagination at all are internationally recognizable stars, that were missing for years.
Across the international market, stars such as Michael Jordan, Yao Ming, and Hakeem Olajuwon were performing great deeds on the floor as well as creating a rage of the game among people in their country.
In India, Satnam Singh Bhamara briefly became a beacon of hope when he was drafted into the NBA in 2015. However, his limited playing time and lack of impact on the court meant his influence on Indian basketball culture was short-lived.
No role model is there to follow. Stars of sports are a key player in promoting the sport. The popularity increases and so does investment in it. For basketball, this situation at the world level gives rise to a cycle of low visibility and minimum growth.
Scarcity of Coaches:
Coaches are the backbones of any sport, but in India, the level of basketball coaching is woefully underdeveloped. Very few have international experience or FIBA certifications. Most are ex-players without modern training techniques or exposure to global standards.
The NBA Academy India, initiated in 2017, is a first step towards the desired direction. It has made available advanced coaches and facilities to only a handful of classes of emerging young athletes.
The program is still pretty infantile, and it touches only the miniscule part of the basketball world. Unless there is a powerful network of quality coaching available to grassroots players, the progress of players will be stopped dead in their tracks since these would not get good quality training.
Low Participation and Cultural Barriers
Cultural factors also have a lot to do with basketball being marginalized. For instance, in India, sports participation is a secondary activity compared to academic pursuits.
Parents and schools emphasize education more than other activities. Cricket is extremely popular and has a lot of infrastructure, while basketball is a leisure activity and not a career choice.
For instance, a recent survey shows that less than 1% of the youth in India consider basketball as a career.
Schools and colleges with a strong potential to ignite sports culture do not have an organized league or tournament for basketball. Cricket and other traditional games fill the scene there.
Infrastructure Problem
Infrastructure is another major issue facing India in basketball. There are fewer than 1,000 dedicated basketball courts in the entire country and many of those in poor conditions.
Courts which meet international standards are even less available, further limiting opportunities to train effectively for players.
Basketball courts in the urban regions are auxiliary facilities under multi-purpose buildings that are predominantly constructed for other games.
In practical terms, for young aspiring players in the rural and semi-urban sectors, it is next to impossible to practice or hone their skills because of non-availability of basic facilities.
Lack of Media Coverage
The first and foremost reason for popularizing sports is media. However, very little coverage of basketball can be found in Indian dailies, TV channels, or online forums. Cricket seems to dominate the media walls, and most of the airtime and sponsors are given to it.
Even other popular sports, like badminton and kabaddi, when boosted by league structures like the Indian Badminton League and Pro Kabaddi League, receive more playtime in the media than basketball.
This lack of visibility impacts the public’s perception. Since there is no media narrative, nor live broadcasting of the matches, then basketball does not compel the imagination of the Indian audience.
The lack of a professional basketball league with sizeable prize money also cements its unwillingness to carry an appeal to sponsors and advertisers.
Economic Challenges
The economic factors also majorly contribute to the slow development of basketball. Cricket enjoys disproportionate investment funding from private sponsors and government structures.
Normally, the basketball programs are either grossly under-funded and lead to disorganized tournaments as well as weak patronage.
In the sports sector, the Khelo India project initiated by the Government promoted many sport disciplines, of which basketball was one of them.
Although the program includes some events in basketball, the impact could be considerably low because the primary focus is still more on the other sport variants, and grassroots development funding is very less.
Means of Development
The development of basketball in India could follow these ways:
1. Grass root programs: Basketball leagues and tournaments must be initiated in schools and colleges. Hence, it guarantees that a young talent is ensured through an academic institution.
2. Infrastructure investments: Developing the infrastructure, particularly constructing and maintaining specific courts for basketball and making it more accessible to those areas who have lesser courts will enable these players to exercise their skill adequately.
3. Coaching: International cooperation and FIBA-approved coaches will make it more efficient for the players.
4. Tapping the NBA: The NBA is interested in the Indian market. The NBA Academy can be extended, and exhibition games in India will raise the profile of the sport.
5. Media Campaign: Highlight the highlights, stories of the players, and live game on social media and digital platforms.
Basketball in India stands at a crossroads. The sport is full of potential, but requires several systemic changes to stay alive.
Grass-root participation, infrastructure development, quality coaching, and several foreign alliances are some of the ways through which basketball can carve a niche for itself in the Indian sports arena.
Without it, basketball would continue to remain in the background, behind cricket and other sports.
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