Kevin146;s tall talks

American basketball star Garnett visits Delhi with aim to popularise the sport, but spends little time with kids

Jog your minds and try to recall the last time a man playing in the NBA visited the Capital. And if you can8217;t think of an instance, don8217;t blame it on memory lapse simply because there hasn8217;t been any such occasion. Understandable, then, that NBA star Kevin Garnett8217;s visit to India on a promotional tour would create such frenzy, by fans and media alike.

Having landed in Delhi late on Saturday night, the Minnesota Timberwolves power forward seems to have a busy few days ahead. 8220;I go to Agra next, and the next stop is Bangalore, where I have planned to do some charity work,8221; said the man whose height would put the likes of Jan Koller and Peter Crouch to shame.

The first business of the day was the press conference, which was attended by a sizeable crowd; certainly more than the number of people one would expect to see at a basketball match in India. Evidently, star power works like nothing else.

On being asked whether basketball players of the subcontinent would ever be able to achieve global success, owing to lack of good height, the American said, 8220;The most important thing is hard work and determination; if you have that, then you can touch the sky. Being tall helps, certainly, but lack of it shouldn8217;t be a major hindrance. I wasn8217;t always this tall.8221;

Dealing with questions as effortlessly as making a slam dunk would be for someone who is 68217;118221;, Kevin answered a variety of questions; ranging from his opinion on the most difficult forward to guard in the NBA San Antonio Spurs8217; Tim Duncan to the highlight of his career Olympic gold in 2000, and the importance of teamwork.

He stated that the purpose of his visit was two-fold 8212; to see the country and help make basketball more popular. 8220;I8217;m looking forward to seeing the Taj Mahal, from what I8217;ve heard, it8217;s a great sight,8221; he said. That would take care of the first; the second was slated for the evening, where the four school teams who won the spots in the final of last week8217;s preliminary tournament would get a chance to fight it out, and looking on would be no less than the man who8217;s been in the NBA All-Star team nine times.

The children, however, were in for a slight disappointment as the promised basketball tips and the interactive session from the star never came to be. 8220;He just came, distributed the prizes and went away. He didn8217;t even talk to us,8221; said Garima, part of the winning Montfort School team in the girls8217; category. So much for encouraging the kids.

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But this did not dampen the enthusiasm created by the arrival of a basketball celebrity. 8220;Even if we didn8217;t get to talk to him, it8217;s a big deal that a person of his stature came to watch us,8221; said Aanchal, who belonged to Montfort8217;s second team, which also made the final, finishing as runners-up. The winner in the boys8217; section was a team from Montfort as well.