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NBA INDIA GAMES 2019

September 27, 2019

Mumbai, India

THE MODERATOR: Thanks a lot for joining us today. I'd like to introduce Vlade Divac, the general manager of the Sacramento Kings, who will start today's call with some opening remarks.

VLADE DIVAC: Thank you. First of all, welcome, all, to this conference call. I want to start off saying that I'm very excited about the upcoming games in India. It will be a great bonding experience for our team. Obviously, this is not my first time there, but for most of our kids it's their first time to India, and I'm so excited about that. When I traveled to India in 2014 with Vivek [Ranadive] and Adam Silver, it was amazing to see the excitement for basketball in India, and we want to really be part of that process of introducing the game to that part of the world.

Coming from the International Games, I think it's very important that basketball is now a global sport and brings people together. I think we are on a great mission to accomplish that, like I said, bringing people together.

I'm proud to be obviously with an organization that believes that sport can be a force for good, and I'm excited about this trip to India.

Harrison [Barnes], would you say something about -- obviously Harrison is a Sacramento Kings player that was in India a few months ago to promote the game. Harrison?

HARRISON BARNES: Thank you, Vlade. Being there earlier this summer, I think it's going to be a really exciting time for us as a team, for the league to be able to have the first games in India. I know it's pretty surreal for Vivek to see this thing come full circle, from owning a team to now playing the first games there, and I know all of my teammates, just talking with them, are just excited to see the culture and excited to play the games. We're all looking forward to it.

VLADE DIVAC: Any questions? We are ready to answer any questions you guys have.

Q. Harrison, with your trip to India in April and your recent World Cup trips to Australia and China, this will be your fourth international trip since the end of the season. How are you feeling physically and mentally? And for Vlade, is the Kings' staff at all concerned about the amount of air miles that Harrison, Bogey [Bogdan Bogdanovic] and Nemanja [Bjelica] have put on their bodies already considering you guys are about to travel 50,000 miles over the course of the upcoming season?
HARRISON BARNES: For me, I've been working closely with our medical staff here, our training staff, to make sure that my body is in peak shape for all the travel. With going to India earlier this year, with going to the World Cup and now being ready to go to India again, I'm feeling good, mentally fresh, excited to be playing again and have the season get started, and physically we're going to continue to monitor and make sure that I'm fresh and ready to go as the season goes on.

VLADE DIVAC: Like Harrison said, we got used to travel. Obviously this is a longer flight, but we did everything to make it easier for our guys, and I would use this opportunity to thank Vivek and our ownership group to provide us with the best possible way to get there and have our guys rest and enjoy on this trip.

Q. Harrison, you mentioned that you've been in India in the past, and of course you have got a slight view of what the culture here is like, and I've pretty sure you've been talking to the Sacramento players. What have you told them, and what are the expectations regarding the games that you guys will play in October?
HARRISON BARNES: You know, the biggest thing I've tried to tell my teammates is that the culture is beautiful. Me coming over there, I was a huge fan of Indian food, but just getting a chance to walk in the cities, getting a chance to see the Taj Mahal, getting a chance to work with the kids that were at the NBA Academy, getting ready for the Junior NBA World Championships, it was a great experience, and just seeing, I think, from a basketball perspective how passionate the fan base is, I think that's what -- that's what made me the most excited. I think that's what I've been trying to relay to my teammates.

Q. Harrison and Vlade, before you guys made your different trips to India and during it, what sort of perspective has Vivek given to you about the country and how it feels about basketball and really anything else about its culture?
HARRISON BARNES: When I first talked to Vivek before I went, the biggest thing he told me was go in with an open mind, be ready to embrace the culture. It's going to be a lot of different things that you'll be able to experience and see, and just go with it. So I think one of the first nights we went there, we went to India Gate, and just seeing a small glimpse of India and just seeing how many people there were and seeing the festivities and all that was going on there just opened my eyes to see just how big the world is but also the opportunity that the game of basketball has to hopefully reach and connect people all across the world.

VLADE DIVAC: Same thing for me. I was so excited to have an opportunity to travel in that part of the world. I remember growing up, I had learned a lot about India and Indian people, so I was able to meet the culture right on the spot and meet a lot of people in Mumbai specifically, and now I have a few friends there, and I'm excited to see them when I get there.

Q. Vlade, we've seen this talk about having the NBA game in India started around four or five years ago with Mr. Vivek himself behind the idea, and since then we've seen a lot of involvement on the NBA in grass-roots programs here in India. Based on your experiences of India, do you guys see these games happening a bit more in the future, like how we have in maybe China or the Philippines or somewhere?
VLADE DIVAC: Well, absolutely. Like I said before, basketball is a global game, and we try to introduce this game to India. Obviously, the Sacramento Kings had a lot of live games televised in India, and I know we have a lot of fans there, not just because Vivek is coming from India, but we have NBA fans who follow the Sacramento Kings. A few players a few years ago tried to make it to the NBA, and I'm sure down the road we're going to have an NBA player from India when NBA Academy and when Basketball Federation of India are doing a lot to work with those kids and develop them. So I'm positive that we're going to see something just like what China did a decade ago.

Q. Harrison, looking with the trip and heading into the season, you're going to have three or four nights, and this trip is going to probably take away from your practice time that you normally have next week. How do you look at how training camp is going to go and how that may play into the rest of the season, especially with a new coach and new players you're trying to add in?
HARRISON BARNES: You know, coming into a season, there's always a lot of moving parts, regardless of how long guys have been together, but I think the biggest thing for us is spending that time together. I think that's what we're looking forward to most about this India trip and about this training camp period is just guys being around each other. We've had some time these past couple weeks just to be around each other, spend some time, but really kind of developing that bond off the court is what's going to help us throughout the course of the season on the floor.

VLADE DIVAC: I agree with Harrison. To make it to the NBA, it's a lot of hard work, and it's not easy, so we can always take an excuse, but the NBA players are working hard and this is a great opportunity for them, bonding, spending time in India together. I think it's very important for a young team moving forward.

Q. I have a two-part question that is for both Vlade and Harrison. This is the first time that NBA has been involved in these efforts to sort of promote the game in India for a while now. The biggest of those efforts in recent times was Kevin Durant coming down to India a couple of years ago. Could you give me a sense of how much bigger having preseason games in India actually is compared to having a big star come down here? And the second part would be that Harrison, when you came down in April, you also got the chance to visit the NBA Junior Academy in New Delhi. Could you give me a sense of that trip and the upcoming talent?
HARRISON BARNES: To answer the first part of your question, I think it's one thing to promote the game, to have people see the game on TV and interact on social media, but to be able to experience a preseason game I think will give fans who are in India an up-close look at what the game is all about, to see the competition, to see the plays, feel the excitement. I think that's what everyone wants to see and everyone wants to promote. I think it'll be a catalyst for the game growing in the country.

In terms of the talent in India, I was very impressed with what I saw when I was there earlier this summer. To see the kids, the growth and development, to see how hard they were working, how diligent they were in terms of listening, being very perceptive in trying to be a sponge and soak up knowledge. It was fun as a player-coach for the days I was there to just interact with them, and like Vlade was saying, there's no doubt I think the game will grow and there will be more players that will start coming from India.

VLADE DIVAC: I totally agree with Harrison. I would just add, this is a historic moment for NBA and the game of basketball, and we are so proud to be part of it. I think I can speak, again, coming from obviously a small country and somewhere in eastern Europe, I was born in a small town, but my dream was always to be a part of the NBA, and I accomplished that. So the message for the kids in India is just work on their games, and the future is -- NBA is open for everybody. It's a great opportunity to promote the game and give the hope to all those basketball players that are dreaming to be a part of NBA.

Q. When you went to India in April, it looked like you really connected with the kids. You went to the academy, you played cricket with some of the kids. What does it mean to you to play in front of 3,000 kids, youth, during the first game in India on Friday?
HARRISON BARNES: I mean, it means a lot. You know, just to see those kids, the excitement that they had, I think seeing NBA players up close and personal, they follow and they support heavily from such a long distance away. So for us to be able to have two great teams who are coming to the country who are going to be able to play, who are hopefully going to be able to interact with the fans in the arena and on the streets when we're in town, it's a big moment. I think that you have to kind of take a step back and kind of appreciate all the places that basketball has taken us, what the game of basketball has done for so many people, and just try to live in that moment.

THE MODERATOR: Vlade, Harrison, thank you so much for joining us today. We look forward to seeing you next week out in Mumbai.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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NBA INDIA GAMES 2019

September 27, 2019

Vlade Divac

Harrison Barnes