“I’m actually blessed and humbled that this has occurred and I’m proud that this has occurred to a man from India, a Sikh from India, a fan of Toronto Raptors.”
On May 15, 2021, the 69-year-old India-born Canadian Nav Bhatia walked into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame museum in Springfield, Massachusetts and there it was – His Toronto Raptors jersey (which he was given when the team gave him the title of Superfan in 1998), the replica of his Championship ring (which he received from the team after they won the NBA Championship 2018-19, his famous courtside chair, and his white turban with the red band. Only a few metres away is the gallery of Kobe Bryant, who was also inducted this year. For everyone who goes to the museum, one can watch his highlights from the games for 10 minutes. “Disbelief, crazy” is how Bhatia describes changing into the first-ever fan to be inducted in the Basketball Hall of Fame.
Bhatia moved to Toronto amid the anti-Sikh riots in India manner again in 1984 and he calls all the things he has achieved in Toronto a “pure blessing”. He calls his induction into the Hall of Fame a win for all the fans and says it will take him some time for it to sink in. “I am the first Indian to go (in the Hall of Fame), the first fan to go, the first Sikh to go,” Bhatia passionately tells News18.com in an unique interplay.
The Basketball Hall of Fame induction ceremony was held over the May 15-16 weekend on the Mohegan Sun Resort and Casino in Uncasville, Connecticut. It occurred in a bio-bubble the place everybody was examined each day, adhered to social distancing norms and wore their masks. Bhatia shared how he felt greater than welcomed in the midst of some nice personalities.
“I used to be speaking to the NBA commissioner Adam Silver and deputy commissioner Mark Tatum and so they stated, ‘Nav, now you are not only a Raptors Superfan but a world Superfan because everybody knows you all around the world. Thank you for the way you represent NBA and basketball.’ It was very touching. And then I can always remember the second after I noticed the turban in the gallery.
“It was easy however nonetheless an incredible ceremony, particularly when Vanessa (Kobe Bryant’s spouse) got here to talk after which Michael Jordan was there, it was very touching. I used to be capable of meet so many Hall of Famers, I used to be pinching myself on a regular basis,” Bhatia described.
On being asked whether the Sikh riots that forced him out of India fuels his pride on the turban making it to the Hall of Fame, he stresses he doesn’t like to look into the past but focus on the way forward. “Very few people were involved at that time (1984 riots). Basically, people are very good, look at how everyone’s helping one another during these times of Covid. Our first prayer is ‘Nanak Naam Chardi Kala, teraa bhane sarbat da bhala’, we pray for everyone’s wellness and happiness. That’s what we the Sikhs are,” he stated.
‘BRINGING CULTURE AND COMMUNITY TO MAINSTREAM’
How did all of it begin for Bhatia? He says again when he shifted to Toronto, from 1984 to 1995 he was a workaholic, working 100 hours every week. So when the Toronto Raptors got here into the being, he discovered a solution to get away from all that stress and channel his love for basketball.
“This recreation is so lovely, finest recreation in the world, most entertaining, the quickest in the world. I fell in love with it the very first day. My spouse says ‘basketball is your first wife’ as a result of for 25 years of my life, I’ve by no means missed a minute of any of my Raptors video games, I’ve by no means been late and I’ve by no means left early and I’ve missed my spouse’s birthdays, our marriage anniversaries. I’m a Superfan exterior however I’m not very a lot beloved at residence, you recognize (chuckles).”
Bhatia says it is the excitement and the pace of the game that attracted him to it. “For two and a half hours, you forget everything,” he shares. Bhatia stated he wished to alter the notion of Sikhs and South Asians in the mainstream and going to the NBA video games offered him with that chance.
In the 1998-99 NBA season, Bhatia enabled the primary Baisakhi Day recreation. He took numerous 10-13-year-old children from all religions to the world and celebrated the pageant by performing Bhangra and extra. “My objective has been for the longest time to convey our neighborhood and tradition in the mainstream. If you go to the sport in the world now, you will notice so much of South Asians, lot of Sikhs, we’re 3000-4000 South Asians, who come for each recreation. For me, I would like everybody to combine with out reservations – whether or not somebody is sporting a hijab, or a turban – deep inside we’re there to share with the workforce.”
Bhatia has seen the game develop in Toronto and the team making the bond with its fans and the city. Bhatia remembers the time where there would be just some 4000 people in the arena and then when the team would be losing by 30 points in the last quarter, they would all leave “as if there was a fire in the arena”. But then he talks concerning the 2019-20 season, the place 15000 folks had been exterior the world watching the workforce play on the large display.
“Back in 1995 or so, if you happen to wished to purchase the jersey, there have been hardly any in the shops and now each nook has the jersey. During the Championship parade, we had two and a half million folks from throughout Canada. I feel the Canadians have embraced the Raptors and when you find yourself successful, folks come on the bandwagon and it has occurred to us. Even in our Sikh neighborhood, after I go to Gurudwaras, folks speak about it, 80 90-year-old Babas and Bebes discuss concerning the recreation and the way they watch it with three generations. Our basketball neighborhood has change into very massive,” he added.
WHEN BEING THE SUPERFAN SAVED BHATIA FROM A CHALLAN
“I almost missed a game one time. I was running late on the highway and as I was driving and thinking that my record is going to go bad. I did something very wrong and went to the side road on the highway and almost made it before I saw the policeman standing with the lights. He wanted to give me the challan but he saw and said, ‘oh, you’re the Superfan.’ He said ‘don’t do it again, I am going to let you go this time’ and actually he guided me to the arena and I was able to make the game on time.”
FEEDING ON THE FANS
Bhatia shared that the bio-bubble NBA season as a consequence of coronavirus was a really troublesome time for the gamers and the followers alike. He stated he was requested to affix the bubble and be there for the video games however he felt it was secure for the gamers, their households or him and determined towards it. “I feel that’s why the Raptors didn’t do very properly and didn’t make the playoffs as a result of our workforce feed off the followers. Lot of our gamers affected with Covid. That was final season however we’re going to be roaring again this season on high of the Eastern Conference.”
BEING THE FACE OF THE FANS
When Bhatia bought his first two tickets to the Toronto Raptors’ games in 1995, he never imagined that he would become a Superfan, get so much love and recognition from not only his fellow fans but the team and the NBA
“Where does a fan get to be the Grand Marshall of the parade, the biggest sports parade that happened in Toronto in 2019? Where does a fan, ever in the history of any sport, gets a Championship ring worth 80,000 dollars from the team? That means the team considers me as a player. And the third now, with the Hall of Fame ring. This is not supposed to happen to a fan but it has happened. God is good, Babaji is very good.
“When I accepted this (Championship) ring, I said I am accepting this on behalf of all the (Toronto) Raptors fans everywhere. I made sure when I go to the games, I wear this beautiful ring so that all the fans can have the pride and the bragging rights. Nobody has a chance to see the Championship ring, I want to make sure as many kids and adults can see and wear this ring. Same with this Hall of Fame ring, this belongs to all of us, not just me,” he stated.
PHILANTHROPIC BHATIA
Nav Bhatia is the worldwide ambassador of World Vision, which has helped him construct 135 washrooms in Faridkot in 35 colleges. Through the mission, Bhatia needs to assist the women proceed their schooling who would in any other case drop out after their menstrual cycles started. There is one other 550,000 {dollars} mission in the pipeline, in keeping with which they wish to make 200 washrooms and a few basketball courts in Alwar.
Bhatia stated such tasks present the facility of the sport of basketball and one which even unites him much more along with his household.
“It provides me nice pleasure to see these 14-15-year-old women going to highschool and persevering with their schooling as a result of poverty breeds poverty. People say most cancers or coronary heart assaults are massive ailments however I feel poverty is the most important illness. These women who aren’t capable of go to highschool as a result of there are not any washrooms, principally they’re poor. They get married on the age of 13 in the event that they don’t go to highschool and have children by 15, it’s against the law, it’s a sin, that’s what we wish to change. Now as these women proceed to review, few of them are going to alter the world and they will convey their households out of poverty once they discover jobs,” he explained.
Bhatia further said that he was praying for everybody in India and shared that 12 of his family members were affected by Covid, three of whom had to go to the ICU as well. “This is the worst time I have ever witnessed with people begging for oxygen but proud to be a Sikh that we aren’t just giving langar for food but also oxygen to help the humanity. I hope that it gets better soon and in the next year or so, we can beat this Covid and I can visit my beautiful homeland again.”
Bhatia additionally stated that as a consequence of Covid, two years had been additionally wasted for NBA India, which was ramping up its actions in the nation. He hoped that the Indian neighborhood may take pleasure in basketball and see that it was a straightforward, non-expensive sport. “NBA India has a pleasant academy in Noida and they’re engaged on getting children into basketball. You don’t have to purchase a cricket bat and pads and all that, only a 30-40 Rs basketball. I feel you will notice so much of constructive issues come out from NBA India and make this recreation highly regarded as a result of I actually consider that is the most effective, most entertaining and the quickest recreation.”
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