Kings, Pacers to become 1st NBA teams to play in India

The Sacramento Kings and Indiana Pacers will become the first NBA teams to play in India, the league announced on Thursday.

India will host two preseason games Oct. 4-5 in 2019 at the NSCI Dome in Mumbai.

"Our inaugural NBA India Games will help further untap the enormous basketball potential in a country with a thriving sports culture and a growing, young and engaged population," NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said. "We thank the Kings and Pacers organizations for participating in this historic event."

India has the second largest population in the world with over 1.3-billion people but has yet to produce homegrown NBA talent.

Kings majority owner Vivek Ranadive is of Indian descent and has been pushing for the opportunity to bring the Association into his native land.

"The Sacramento Kings are proud to be playing in the first NBA games ever held in India," Ranadive said. "As an Indian-American, it is an honor to help bring this historic moment to the country where I was raised. The sport is experiencing tremendous growth in India and we are excited about continuing to expand the NBA's reach to fans across the globe. The world wants to watch basketball and India is a fast-growing new frontier."

The NBA opened an office in Mumbai in 2011 with hopes of further strengthening their presence in Asia.