Rumors

The CEO of steel giant ArcelorMittal and a member of one of India’s richest families is investing $1 billion into the William Chisholm-led purchase of the Boston Celtics. Aditya Mittal will likely be the second-largest stakeholder of the 18-time NBA champions and potentially be the alternate governor in the future, according to multiple people familiar with the details.

Sportico

India Maddern and Jock Landale are expecting their first child together. The WAG and NBA star, 29, shared the happy news to Instagram on Thursday and also announced their baby's gender with a reel of black and white photos. In the gallery, India, who is the niece of TV presenter Rebecca Maddern, flaunted her growing baby bump as she pulled up her white tank top and unbuttoned her jeans.

Daily Mail

Bobby Manning: Mazzulla on IND: "They're one of the fastest playing teams."

Twitter

NBA deputy commissioner Mark Tatum said the 2022-23 garnered over 100 million unique viewers in India across linear, social media and digital media platforms.

hindustantimes.com

Mark Tatum: “We are doing a ton in India. It is the most populous country in the world right now as we all know. We are trying to do more grassroots programmes, some more junior NBA programmes for example. We work with the Reliance Foundation on our NBA junior programme to get more boys and girls playing the game of basketball there. We have NBA basketball schools in India as well.”

hindustantimes.com

The National Basketball Association (NBA) today announced that two-time NBA champion and Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame member Ray Allen is visiting India from Friday, May 12 – Tuesday, May 16 as part of the league’s continued efforts to grow the game of basketball in the country. Allen will first visit Mumbai, where he will attend a live T20 cricket match and make a guest appearance on JioCinema’s cricket show.

hindustantimes.com

Films from Australia, Brazil, Canada, India, Senegal, the United Kingdom and United States will debut on Friday during a red-carpet event and be screened throughout the weekend at the NBA Crossover fan experience. All the films can be viewed on the league’s app later this season.

Washington Post

Paul said he follows the Royals, based in Jaipur, Rajasthan, in Northern India, on social media. The 12-time NBA All-Star, however, would like to visit the Royals and India this offseason if time permits. Paul also is involved in several multimedia projects, has been attending Winston-Salem State University and owns a stake in a minor league baseball team, the Winston-Salem Dash. “I’m going to have as much involvement as possible,” Paul said. “I still got my day job [with the Suns], which I’m always going to be fully engaged in. There are a lot of other things I got going on. But I’m always going to make the main thing the main thing. “Hopefully, we [the Suns] will play for a long time. My family lives in LA. So, I don’t know what my summer looks like right now. But going to India is something I look forward to doing.”

Andscape

The IPL grew to a 10-team league this season with expansion teams Gujarat Titans and Lucknow Super Giants paying a combined $1.7 billion to join. With 1.4 billion people, India is the second-most populous country in the world behind China, according to World Population Review. Despite declines in viewership compared with the end of the previous season, the first week of IPL matches last month still had an overall reach of 229.06 million viewers, according to India’s The Economic Times. “The potential is unreal, especially in India,” Paul said. “Honestly, as far as the game of basketball, it’s trying to grow in India. But cricket rules. It’s been an education process for me, too. It’s something I’m excited about.”

Andscape

Celebrated American basketball player Dwight Howard has found "peace" after a visit to Varanasi, the spiritual capital of India. The 36-year-old shared snippets of his journey to the holy city. “At peace with myself and the world after a visit to Varanasi. A spiritual journey that has rejuvenated the soul," the 36-year-old wrote in an Instagram post.

outlookindia.com

All Elite Wrestling: Last night on #AEWDynamite Satnam Singh (@hellosatnam) the first ever Indian born NBA draft pick, now focused on pro wrestling and coached by @sonjaydutterson, arrived in AEW, helping Dutt + @TheLethalJay attack new ROH TV @SamoaJoe! Catch Dynamite on @EurosportIN + @TBSNetwork!

Twitter

In the last three years, elite players from China, France and India have all signed on to play for the Breakers (as did R.J. Hampton from the U.S.). Walsh, who runs day-to-day operations, and his partners believe if the team can continue to attract future NBA players, it can turn the Auckland-based squad into a globally recognized brand, create a host of new commercial opportunities for itself along the way and grow its valuation.

Sportico

“Every year we want to one or two players on NBA Draft night that [commissioner Adam Silver] is saying, ‘From the New Zealand Breakers…’ And if we can do that with somebody like Prince from India, in a market that is largely untapped in basketball but has such a huge population, we see a lot of value there,” Walsh said.

Sportico

Bhatia’s story is certainly worthy of a movie treatment. He moved to Toronto in 1984 to escape India’s anti-Sikh riots. Despite his expertise as a mechanical engineer, Bhatia couldn’t find work in that field and had to take various odd jobs before becoming a car salesman at a Hyundai dealership. During a three-month span, he sold 127 cars (believed to be a record) and eventually became so successful that he bought the dealership.

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