DELHI, Aug. 21, 2012 – The National Basketball Association (NBA) today announced it will launch the first-ever NBA 3X presented by Sprite in India.  The free interactive event will combine basketball and entertainment to bring an unprecedented NBA experience to fans in four cities from Sept. 15 to Oct. 21.  The event will visit Delhi, Hyderabad, Chennai, and Mumbai and this will mark the NBA’s first event in Hyderabad.

NBA to launch first-ever NBA 3X presented by Sprite

NBA 3X presented by Sprite will feature the largest 3-on-3 basketball tournament ever staged in India with 400 teams expected to participate; performances from top musical artists or well-known DJ each day; and a variety of on and off the court activities for fans.

The 3-on-3 tournament will have two age divisions: 16-18 and 18-23.  The winners in each city will be flown to Mumbai to compete in a National Championship on Oct. 21. The National Champions in each division will qualify to participate in a 2013 FIBA/NBA Asia 3-on-3 basketball tournament.

Seven-time NBA Champion Robert Horry and the Golden State Warriors dance team, the Warrior Girls, will be in Delhi to tip off the event on Sept. 15-16.  Horry played 16 seasons in the NBA for four teams.  His seven championships are the most of any player not to have played on the 1960’s Boston Celtics.  Horry will also attend the Mahindra NBA Challenge Finals in Bangalore and conduct an NBA Cares event in Delhi with Love in Action — a Delhi-based NGO which uses the sport of basketball to provide life-skills education to children from slums.

The musical artists and DJ’s performing include hip hop and Bollywood artist Hard Kaur; leading electronic and dance music duo VJ Nikhil Chinapa and DJ Pearl; award-winning singer Anushka Manchanda, past winner of Channel V’s music talent hunt search Pop Stars; along with two of India’s top DJs – Clement and Ajit (Goa).

NBA 3X presented by Sprite will bring authentic NBA-style entertainment to fans in India.  Fans will participate in a variety of free contests and activities with the chance to win NBA merchandise.  They can participate in basketball clinics, play NBA video games, measure themselves against cut-outs of NBA players, and interact with Horry and the Warrior Girls.  For a full event schedule or to register for the 3on3 tournament, fans can visit NBA.com.

NBA 3X presented by Sprite is being supported by adidas, HP, Spalding and the Basketball Federation of India (BFI).  Sprite will send two participants from the national champion team in the 18-23 division to NBA All-Star 2013.  These two participants may get a chance to be part of the global pool of players from which NBA All-Stars Kobe Bryant and LeBron James will select to be part of the Sprite Team Sudden and Team Intense competition during NBA-All Star 2013. In addition, the first Sprite Basket Blast 2012 will take place in select cinemas across select cities in India from September through October.

Fans can purchase a Sprite Combo at participating cinemas to enter a lucky draw to get a chance to travel to NBA All-Star 2013.   Four Winners will be selected and win trips to All-Star.

adidas is supporting all participants with their best-in-class on-court jerseys and will also create an NBA Shop at each venue to showcase the latest NBA products. In addition, adidas will mark the return of the 2011 NBA Most Valuable Player Derrick Rose, of the Chicago Bulls, with the launch of an exclusive Rose collection and a series of activations to engage youth.

HP will create an interactive technology experience for fans visiting NBA 3X presented by Sprite.  Fans can utilize HP products to access NBA.com, NBA social media, basketball training videos and create their very own NBA Avatar.  Spalding will provide all basketball equipment.

“We are extremely pleased to announce brand Sprite’s association with the NBA 3X initiative. Sprite is an exciting and vibrant brand that has always maintained a meaningful connection with its consumers through engaging initiatives,” said Wasim Basir, Director, Integrated Marketing Communications, Coca-Cola India. “We look forward to working together with the NBA to develop more innovative basketball experiences that will resonate well with our consumers in India and give them the opportunity to be closely involved with the sport. We hope that NBA 3X presented by Sprite becomes a great success and is well appreciated by our consumers.”

“NBA 3X presented by Sprite will combine NBA-style entertainment, 3-on-3 basketball, and music to engage youth and build our fan base in India,” said NBA India Senior Director of Development Akash Jain.  “This is the largest fan program we have ever hosted in India and the wide range of basketball and lifestyle elements will provide memorable experiences for our fans.”

Here is the schedule for NBA 3X presented by Sprite:

About the NBA 

The NBA is a global sports and media business that features three professional sports leagues: the National Basketball Association, the Women’s National Basketball Association, and the NBA Development League. The league has established a major international presence, with offices in 15 markets worldwide, games and programming in 215 countries and territories in 47 languages, and NBA merchandise for sale in more than 125,000 stores in 100 countries on six continents. Current NBA rosters feature 78 international players from 39 countries and territories. The NBA’s digital assets include NBA TV, which is available in nearly 60 million U.S. homes, and NBA.com, which averages more than 42 million page views per day, more than half of which originate from outside of North America. The NBA is the No. 1 professional sports league on social media, with more than 300 million fans and followers globally across all league, team, and player platforms. Through NBA Cares, the league and its teams and players have donated more than $200 million to charity, completed more than 1.9 million hours of hands-on community service, and created more than 720 places where kids and families can live, learn, or play.

Tags: Basketball, Chennai, Delhi, Hyderabad, India, Mumbai, National Basketball Association, NBA, NBA 3X