TimesofIndia.com in SINGAPORE: For two almost quarters against Indonesia’s Jubliee School in their first game NBARising Star Invitational 2026 in Singapore, Velammal International School looked capable of competing. The only Indian national teams confidently moved the ball and defended deliberately, with spells.Then came the pressure. The step quickened, the legs tired, and the margin was constantly widening. By the final siren, the scoreboard was 95-61.In their second game against South Korea’s Kyungbock High School – one of the strongest school programs in Asia – and the eventual winners, relentless reporters all over the field squeezed every possession. Passageways have disappeared. Traffic has increased. Each defensive jump quickly became a new attack.By the time the final siren sounded, Velammal had suffered a 131-46 defeat.Head coach Shamsher Basha didn’t think about the result. Instead, he immediately identified the problem. “Yes, durability was an issue,” Basha told Timesofindia.com.His player, Fyodor Prem Athithan, noticed something even more fundamental.“They were pressuring the full hall,” he said. “Back then in India, there was no full-court pressure, just a zone defense. There is full-court pressure here, so next time we should handle it better and make the right moves.”
Image credit: NBA Rising Star Invitational
Former India NBA Academy recruit Kushal Singh came to a similar conclusion.“We know that other countries are better at basketball, so we have better competition to play against,” he said.Over six days at Singapore’s OCBC Arena, these were similar patterns. Watching Japanese, South Korean, Chinese and Australian schools compete, the differences were not limited to height or athleticism. The ball was rarely steady whether teams were protecting narrow leads or comfortably leading.
Where really is the difference
Jaz wasn’t just a talent. It was exposure.And for NBA India League head Sunny Malik, that’s exactly why tournaments like the NBA Rising Stars Invitational have become so important.“RSI is an amazing platform for high school students,” Malik told TimesofIndia.com.“It gives them the opportunity to compete against the best teams in Asia. It provides huge exposure and allows the young players to understand where they are compared to the best in the region.“For the Indian team that participated, I think it’s a great learning platform and an important step in helping them improve every year and eventually become regular competitors on the track.”
Sunny Malik (image credit: NBA Rising Star Invitational)
When asked specifically about India’s fight against the South Korean press, Malik’s response echoed exactly what Basha and Fyodor had already described.“I think more practice matches in a full-court format would have helped a lot. Looking at the Indian team, they competed well in the first and second quarters. However, when the game entered the third quarter, they started to lose steam, and that’s when they also lost momentum.“Longer format practices, more competitive games, more exposure against stronger teams and increased competition within India can go a long way in helping them compete consistently at this level.”
Building the Missing Road
For most of the past decade, the NBA’s on-court presence in India has largely revolved around one program – the Jr. NBA. It introduced thousands of kids to the game, took coaches to schools across the country and became the league’s biggest initiative in India. But what happened after that?For many young players, the path beyond high school basketball has never been clearly defined. That, Malik believes, is finally starting to change.“We’ve been running our Junior NBA program for the last 13 years and I believe it’s a great platform for kids to learn the right style of basketball and develop the right mindset to move up the ranks,” he said.“But from this year forward, we are trying to increase the age group from U-14 to U-16. This gives us a much wider pool of players, creates more competition and allows more players who have progressed through the U-14 program to go on to compete in the Junior NBA U-16.“That extra exposure will help prepare them for the level of basketball they need to play if they want to compete internationally.”The change may seem gradual, but in reality it’s part of a much larger shift in how the NBA views player development in India.With the NBA Rising Stars Invitational now wrapping up its second edition, the league is beginning to connect in a way that didn’t exist before.A player can now enter the system through the Junior NBA, continue to compete at the Under-16 level, graduate from the proposed NBA Rising Stars Invitational Qualifier and, if successful, earn the opportunity to compete against the top school teams in Asia at the Rising Stars Invitational.Beyond that lies another possibility.“The RSI Qualifier… is definitely on the cards,” Malik revealed.“We would like to build around the RSI qualifiers because having the best teams qualify through the competition brings much more energy and credibility to the final teams than being named or selected by the Basketball Federation of India.”The NBA is trying to create continuity, and the league’s ambition is no longer simply to introduce children to basketball. It tries to ensure that talented youngsters stay within the competitive system as they grow up.
When exposure becomes opportunity
That path, according to Sheila Ras, NBA Head of Southeast Asia and Asia Marketing, is already beginning to yield tangible results throughout the region.“I don’t think it’s something for the future,” Rasu said when asked if the Rising Stars Invitational could become a stepping stone to elite basketball.– I think it’s already happening.She highlighted last year’s tournament, where scouts identified five girls who were subsequently invited to Basketball Without Borders, the NBA and FIBA’s global basketball development and community outreach program.
Sheila Rasu (image credit: NBA Rising Star Invitational)
“So it’s already happening. We have scouts coming every year and we’re already using this tournament as a platform to identify young and promising talent.”Rasu offered another example that perhaps best illustrates what the NBA hopes this competition will ultimately become.“Last year, Yongsan High School from South Korea participated, and the MVP of that team immediately went to sign a professional contract in the Korean basketball league. Now he has joined the national team.“Daniel Edi was first seen at our event and then went not only to sign a professional contract, but also to represent his country. There will be more stories like that, and we want to create more stories like that.”Eddie was drafted by the Seoul SK Knights of the Korea Basketball League (KBL), making history as the first player selected directly out of high school through the KBL’s local draft selection system. He went on to make his debut for the Korean men’s national team during the second window of the Asian qualifiers for the 2027 FIBA ​​Basketball World Cup earlier this year. And maybe with results like the above, conversations about college basketball, the pro leagues and eventually the NBA will become realistic, and that long-term thinking is exactly why Malik insists the conversation shouldn’t revolve around one exceptional player.
An invitation to a rising NBA star
Strengthening the basketball ecosystem
“I completely agree,” he answered when asked about the importance of developing coaches alongside players.“Ecosystem development is just as important as player development.“You need the federation, the confederations and all the relevant stakeholders to come together and invest in coach development because that’s where the real skill development starts. That’s where the real foundation is built.”“That foundation has to be strong if we want to keep producing great players from India.”It’s a philosophy shared by NBA operations in Asia. “The ecosystem is not just players,” explained Rasu.“Of course, the most important thing is to help players improve their skills, but you also have to improve the overall standard of the game. That means developing coaches, referees and exposing more young people to basketball.“Clinics for referees and coaches help raise the overall standard of the basketball community so that as more tournaments emerge, there is enough expertise within the ecosystem to support them.”The difference between India’s representatives and the continent’s leading scholastic programs has rarely been about effort. Velammal competed, fought for loose balls and continued to play with energy even when the score was gone.
An invitation to a rising NBA star
Malik believes stronger domestic competition will be just as important.“We also need stronger competition at the national level. With some of the changes being planned at the national level, including new leagues being discussed, there could be more opportunities for Indians to connect with basketball and become more involved in the sport.”By the final day in Singapore, the tournament had produced champions, individual awards and memorable performances.
More than one hero
For India’s sole representatives, however, the most valuable result lies elsewhere. Coach Basha talked about endurance. Fyodor talked about facing the press on the whole field, which he rarely encounters at home. Kaushal spoke about finally realizing where his team stood against the best in Asia.Malik connected these experiences into something much bigger.“I don’t think there’s one thing that can bring a big crowd to basketball,” he said. “It has to be a combination of factors.“Having a real player representing India on the global stage would certainly be an important step. We celebrate heroes in this country and we have seen that in cricket.“So having the right heroes, combined with the right infrastructure and ecosystem, will help us build generations of players. We need a system that consistently produces talent, not just one player reaching the global scene, but many players coming regularly.”
NBA plan for Indian basketball (Image: NBA Rising Star Invitational)
