Hoopdarshan

A true hoops lifer, Aparna Rajkumar has been the voice behind many of top Indian basketball broadcast over the years, commenting on national and international tournaments and hosting India's top women's players on her online show, 'Stree Got Game'. Rajkumar joins Kaushik Lakshman and Karan Madhok on the Hoopdarshan podcast to discuss basketball broadcasting in country, challenges faced by India's top female players, watching Magic Johnson on the court, and the Indian women's GOAT.

Gautam Kapur, the Associate Manager of Basketball Strategy at the NBA, spent several months this year in the NBA's "Bubble" in Orlando, helping monitor the league's state-of-the-art healthcare technology. Kapur joins Kaushik Lakshman and Karan Madhok in Episode 98 of Hoopdarshan to share fascinating stories from the Bubble, growing up and playing basketball in India, memories from the NBA India Games, and the Lakers' Butter Chicken connection. 

The Lakers are 2020 NBA Champions! In Episode 97 of Hoopdarshan, Kaushik Lakshman and Karan Madhok invite Vinod Muthukumar - Maharashtra basketball tsar & co-host of the Patel and Kumar NBA Show - to discuss what this championship means in Lakers lore, appreciate LeBron’s consistent greatness, AD’s game-changing addition, Jimmy Butler’s inspiring moments, and more.

It took a lot longer than usual, but the 2020 NBA Finals are finally here! In Episode 96 of Hoopdarshan, hosts Kaushik Lakshman and Karan Madhok welcome Lakers superfan Abhishek Bhardwaj to discuss a number of intriguing storylines including AD vs. Bam, Riley vs. LeBron, Kuzma vs. Herro, Lakers stars vs. Heat Culture, Kobe, Dwight, and much more.  

In Episode 95 of Hoopdarshan, we welcome NBA India editor and writer Yash Matange. Matange discusses the success of recent Indian prospects like Prince Pal Singh, Anna Mary Zachariah, Siya Deodhar and more with co-hosts Kaushik Lakshman and Karan Madhok. Then, we preview the unprecedented NBA Bubble Playoffs, from Dame Time and Lakers Questions to Giannis, Toronto, Nuggets, and more. 

To watch the first-ever NBA India Games in October, Indian basketball superfan and journalist Siddharth Sharma (aks SidBreakBall) embarked on an epic 3-day, 2,000 km bike journey from Kolkata to Mumbai. On Episode 94 of Hoopdarshan, Sharma joins co-hosts Kaushik Lakshman and Karan Madhok to discuss this wild trip, his memories at the very first NBA preseason game in India, working as a broadcaster for the UBA league, and the hoops scene in Kolkata. 

One of the brightest young stars in Indian basketball, 17-year-old Harsimran 'Hunny' Kaur, joins Episode 93 of Hoopdarshan. The teenager from Kapurthala, Punjab spoke to hosts Kaushik Lakshman and Karan Madhok about joining San Diego State of the NCAA D1, dreams to become the first Indian in the WNBA, and how she finally defeated her father - a former national player - on the court.

On Episode 92, Indo-Canadian baller Bikramjit Gill joins Hoopdarshan from Toronto, where he talks to co-hosts Kaushik Lakshman and Karan Madhok about staying fit in lockdown, the journey that made him a 3x3 phenom in India, the state of Indian basketball, and how the nickname '6earded King' came about. 

In a pandemic-afflicted world without sport (or any outdoor activity), there is nothing that we needed more than 'The Last Dance' the documentary on Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls. In Episode 91, we invite indisputably the biggest desi MJ fan on earth - Krossovr founder/CEO Vasu Kulkarni - to discuss his early reactions to the documentary, his memories of becoming an MJ fan, the numerous times he met Michael Jordan in person, plus bonus stories of the Warriors dynasty and David Stern's favourite emoji.