NBA India Games 2019 diary: Red-eye flights, pink flamingos and Larry Bird gets MVP treatment

In the movie capital of India ― watched on by Bollywood stars, sports legends, the occasional YouTube sensation and the sports minister of the country ― the Sacramento Kings and the Indiana Pacers put on a show two days in a row.

But such is life in the NBA that right after the clock counted down to zero on Saturday’s game of the NBA India Games, both teams were out of the NSCI and headed for the airport, where their chartered red-eye flights awaited.

The Kings, who had flown in on rapper Drake’s $185 million private airplane, were the first ones out with their flight scheduled at 1.00 am in the morning. Just an hour and a half later, the Pacers followed suit, heading for Indianapolis to start training in earnest for the upcoming NBA season ahead of them.

The Kings had managed to get just three days of training camp before embarking on a trip to India under new coach Luke Walton and it was no surprise that they lost both pre-season games in India. Fighting jet lag and a cramped schedule, the Kings players also attended a Bollywood party by owner Vivek Ranadive on Friday night.

Having written history by becoming one of the first two teams to play in India, the Kings’ focus now will be to wipe the ignominy of not having made it to the NBA Playoffs since the 2005-06 season. This means the last time the Kings made it to the Playoffs, LeBron James was in the Cleveland Cavaliers…for his first stint! A certain Steph Curry was still three years afar from being drafted into the league. Last season’s MVP, Giannis Antetokuonmpo, was still in school!

“Our top priority is defence. Tonight it got away from us, we weren’t nearly as aggressive as we need to be. We know if we want to win consistently, we, as a group, have to do better on defence. We have to do a better job of taking care of the ball,” Sacramento coach Luke Walton said before adding, “We fly back tonight. It’s a long flight back and then we have a couple of weeks to get a lot of work in.”

The mystery of the pink flamingos

Among the few peculiarities spotted in the stands in Saturday’s game was the presence of a handful of pink blow-up flamingos.

Turns out, they were being handed out to fans by Matt Asen, or, as he’s known around the league, The Pacer Guy. Just like Nav Bhatia has become a celebrity in his own right as a Super Fan, Asen is a star in his own right in Indianapolis, where he owns season tickets and shows up for each game sporting a yellow hard-hat, a pink flamingo (“for good luck”) and game-specific banners.

It may surprise people that Asen had flown down to India to watch the NBA India Games, which are essentially exhibition games. But then Asen travels for each game at Indianapolis’ Bankers Life Fieldhouse from his house in Florida, over 900 miles south of the city.

The story of how a South Florida man became the most recognisable face in the stands for the Indiana franchise is even more interesting. Apparently, he once met Pacers owner Herb Simon’s wife in 1987 while giving away seven kittens he had rescued. That’s when Mrs Simon noticed a framed photograph of Julius Erving choking Larry Bird in his house and asked if he would come watch a Pacers game. He accepted, and rest is NBA folklore.

Larry Bird, the MVP

With the seats for the first clash of the NBA India Games being allotted to school kids, players and coaches of both teams were amused to hear the stands cheering for both teams.

But Game 2 was a different ball game. As Indiana Pacers coach Nate McMillan put it, “The kids were a little bit louder. The adults were in the stands tonight!”

Heaping praise on the fans, McMillan said, “The crowd has been fantastic. The people of India have been fantastic to us since we have arrived. It’s been nothing but great hospitality.”

Myles Turner went a step ahead. “Having been to all the countries that I have, this is definitely the warmest reception I have received.”

The fans were certainly the sort of spectators you would hope for at a basketball game. They ooh-ed and aah-ed at all the right moments, they chanted MVP…MVP…MVP each time De’Aaron Fox was at the free throw line, and one female supporter even got Myles Turner to acknowledge her in the middle of the game.

Hey, #LarryBird, Mumbai says hello! #NBAIndiaGames

@Pacers @NBAIndia #NBATwitter pic.twitter.com/8ndkldpRw6

— Amit Kamath (@jestalt) October 5, 2019

But it was when Larry Bird was introduced by the arena host that the crowd showed its true basketball pedigree. Bird’s name rang out into the stands forcing even the man renowned for his stoic demeanour to stand up and give the crowd a wave and a smile. As the night wore on, it seemed as though everyone who was courtside, from Indian tennis legend Leander Paes to Bollywood superstar Priyanka Chopra, had made their way over to Bird to request him for a picture.

It was clear just who the real MVP of the night was!