Last year actor Abhishek Bachchan stepped into the sporting arena by owning both a football and kabbadi team. This year it is basketball he has associated himself with. A selfconfessed basket ball fan, Bachchan who has grown up playing the game, was announced the Goodwill Ambassador for NBA All-Star Weekend, 2015, last week. Interestingly, Bachchan will participate in the Sprint National Basketball Association’s All-Star Celebrity Game on February 13 at Madison Square Garden in New York. Besides, the actor, a self-proclaimed Los Angeles Lakers fan, will meet the NBA players and legends throughout the weekend and will go behind the scenes at NBA’s All-Star Saturday Night and the 64th NBA’s All-Star Game. "I am excited and honoured to be representing India at the celebrity match," says Bachchan who would love to promote the game beyond the limited confines. "Basketball is my first love and something that I feel very strongly about. I would love to do something beyond the NBA as well. There's a huge talent pool in India for basketball. The NBA is 'the standard' for basketball in the world, if we promote the sport in India with their help and guidance and if I can be of assistance with that, I would love to do it," says Bachchan. However, he sees the lack of awareness for the sport as the biggest hurdle. "Basketball is not as popular as cricket, kabbadi, or even football. So it is first about garnering interest, creating awareness, how it is played and then acquainting them with it," says the actor, who, with whatever opportunity he gets would like to work on it. Bachchan’s fans will also get an opportunity to join their favourite actor in this celebration as they can ask him questions related to the event on February 13 at 9 pm IST when Abhishek will take over the @NBAIndia Twitter handle. Along with this, they can catch Abhishek’s journey on Sony Six, NBA’s exclusive broadcast partner in India.
