NBA player Robert Lopez, who plays for the New York Knicks, poses in front of the Taj Mahal during a visit to Agra. (Photo: NBA)
NBA players Seth Curry and Robin Lopez have been bowled over by the enthusiasm of the kids in India. The American basketball players flew to Mumbai after supervising a training camp for kids organised by the NBA.
“I saw a lot of talent in kids. I was surprised with the size of some of the kids. I shared my brain about basketball, showed them different ways to get better. Hopefully some of those kids will be in NBA one day. The more they play the better they will get,” said Seth who just finished his NBA season after his team Sacramento Kings failed to make the playoffs.
New York Knicks star Lopez who is seven-feet tall, was also impressed with size and skills of the kids. “I saw plenty of talent, they showed the appetite. It was funny to work with kids, they were hungry and in love with the game. There was a kid of my height at the camp,” Lopez said.
Both Seth and Lopez were disappointed as their teams didn’t make the playoffs in NBA but were pretty excited the way season finished for them.
“Obviously we were unsuccessful to make playoffs. But the team did a good job. We have a couple of guys who are stars and we have young guys with huge amount of potential. There is no reason why we can’t be in play offs next season,” Lopez said.
“(Golden State) Warriors record (73 wins) over shadowed how wonderful this season have been. It was fantastic season overall,” he added.
Seth who is better known as son of former NBA star Dell and younger brother of current Warriors star Stephen just played a full NBA season after remaining undrafted or spending most time on the benches. He has learnt to cope with expectations.
“I know there is more attention on me but I am not worried about the expectations. I have set pretty high goals and see how it goes. They support me and tell me to be more impressive as there are more eyes on me,” Seth said.
“There was some frustration before but it wasn’t too bad for me as I was still playing basketball. I wasn’t where I wanted to be. But I made most of the opportunity, obviously we missed playoffs. I just want to be more consistent and stay injury free and play more games,” he added.
Seth is impressed by Sim Bhullar who played few minutes for the Kings last year. “Sim is a big guy, he has great hands, good touch and has good skills. I was impressed when I saw him playing last season. He is going better every year and will get his opportunity to play.”
