Chennai basketball player aims at building on Junior NBA

Chennai basketball player Jeevika Kumar is looking to make use of experience gained in the Junior NBA global championship in Florida to improve her game and use it in pursuit of her dream of competing in the WNBA.

The city girl, who was part of the Indian team that competed in Junior NBA global tournament (for 13 and 14-year-olds), said playing in the event provided for great exposure and she could pick the brains of NBA stars during the interactions with them.

"It was a mesmerising, nice experience, because I got to see and meet many NBA players and legends like Kareem Abdul Jabbar. And on the playing side, though we lost, it was a good and fun experience," she said.

The 14-year old Jeevika Kumar said playing in the Junior NBA championship enabled her to learn from not only the legends but also by watching fellow players.

"It was a very good exposure for me and I got very motivated by interacting with legends and fellow competitors who played better than me. I saw learnt many things from them, especially footwork and how they went about on the court," she added.

She also said during a life skill session for the participants, she got to pick up some good habits and was taught how to remain simple and humble even in the face of achieving greatness.

Jeevika said meeting former and current NBA stars like Jabbar and Dwayne Wade was a dream come true moment for her, adding their words of advice and encouragement meant a lot.

The Chennai basketballer, who dreams of playing in the WNBA, is keen to keep improving and said playing in the Junior NBA was a big step in that process.