Vivek Ranadivé dances at half-time.
By Deepak Chitnis
WASHINGTON, DC: The Sacramento Kings held their first-ever Bollywood night on Wednesday, as they hosted and ultimately defeated the neighboring Los Angeles Lakers, making the night one in which Indian show business triumphed over the razzle-dazzle of Hollywood.
The event began with the Sacramento Kings players warming up with t-shirts that had “Kings” written on them in Hindi. The seats throughout the entire Sleep Train Arena were re-decorated with the same t-shirts, featuring bright, festive colors, and the Hindi-emblazoned t-shirts were even given out to all fans who attended the game.
“Bollywood Night” also featured performances by Anjali Ranadivé, the daughter of team majority owner Vivek Ranadivé, who sang her song “We Turn Up” during halftime, accompanied by the team’s official dancers. Her father even danced with her during the performance, and hugged his daughter at center court during the dance.
There were traditional dance performances from University of California (UC) Davis student groups LashKara, a Hindi Film-Fusion group, and Sunatya, a Bharatanatyam group. There was also a performance from Sacramento Kings Dancers dressed in traditional Indian attire. Both groups also performed at halftime, leaving the crowd cheering and on their feet.
“[Bollywood Night] reinforces our desire to be home team not just of Sacramento, but all of India,” said team President Chris Granger before the game.
RELATED STORY: Sacramento Kings to host Bollywood night on April 2, hosting Los Angeles Lakers
For basketball fans, the night was significant because it ended up being the Lakers’ 50th loss of the season. The Kings, meanwhile, improved to 27-48 – nowhere near playoff contention in the competitive Western Conference, but proving that Ranadivé’s ownership is yielding some positive results.
The Kings have spent the last several years toiling in obscurity, and also fighting off several potential buyers looking to relocate the team to a more profitable market (namely, Seattle). Ranadivé was behind key acquisitions to obtain Rudy Gay from the Toronto Raptors, along with a lot of up-and-coming talent that will position the team to be a legitimate contender in the coming season. Gay put up 31 points on Wednesday night, becoming the crucial factor in the Kings’ victory on Bollywood night.
Ranadivé is hoping that the event – which, by all accounts, was quite a success – will help spur other teams to create their own desi-related programs to engage the minority communities and create more interest in the National Basketball Association (NBA), especially in India. Ranadivé is the first Indian-origin team owner in NBA history, and has taken several steps to ensure that his team cater to Indian American fans.
On Bollywood night, for example, several of the vendors throughout the stadium served Indian food for the first time. Sacramento Kings dancers all wore Indian (or Indian-esque) attire for their performances, and the game itself was broadcast in India, on Sony Six. The Kings’ website also has an entire section written completely in Hindi – the only NBA team to have this.
“When I bought the Sacramento Kings, I talked about my vision for NBA 3.0,” said Ranadivé to the press, before the game. “We want to build the first NBA franchise for the 21st century, [and] NBA 3.0 is driven by three vectors: technology, globalization, and basketball as an agent of good in the local community.”
(All pics courtesy of the Sacramento Kings.)