Chasing Hoops, Chasing Dreams

INDIAN BASKETBALL STAR ULHAS KS HAS A VISION WORTH BELIEVING IN. A POWERFUL INDIAN DREAM.

- BY SHAHUL HAMEED

One of the sports that the Indian market is yet to truly capitalise on is basketball. With its fast pace, sheer physicality, and edge-of-the-seat thrill, hoops is nothing short of an action-packed T20 spectacle. Above all, there already exists a proven template to run the sport successfully in a league format, the NBA, with its staggering annual turnover of $11 billion.

So why don't we see basketball booming in a country of 1.4 billion people? This question doesn't just apply to basketball, but to several other sports in India. And Ulhas K.S. has some compelling answers. For those who don't know him, you're already late to the party. Ulhas is the first Indian to play professional basketball in Europe, not just anywhere, but in Serbia (2nd-ranked Basketball Nation), a country renowned for producing some of the toughest ballers in the world, respected even by the NBA's finest. The best part? Ulhas doesn't want to be the last Indian to achieve that milestone. In a candid conversation with us, he shared not only his dream for the nation but also a promising roadmap for the future of basketball in India.

1. You've achieved something no other Indian has come close to. Do you remember the first time you picked up a basketball, and what that moment meant to you?

I first picked up basketball at age seven, and it's a funny story. In 4th grade, we had to choose an extracurricular sport. I asked for cricket, football, and volleyball, all full. Finally, the teacher suggested basketball. I didn't even know what it was, but I tried it. Within three days of playing, it came so naturally that I made the school team. That's when the journey began. It was truly a destiny.