LeBron’s tutor to coach Indian team

Further proof that India is getting serious about hoops: the Basketball Federation of India (BFI) has hired three experienced US coaches to take the sport to the proverbial "next level," including 13-year NBA journeyman Kenny Natt, a fomer mentor of superstar LeBron James.

LeBron allegedly reacted something like this when he heard his old coach was moving to India. (Jonathan Daniel – AFP/Getty Images).

Natt was named as the new coach of India's national men's basketball team Tuesday, the Times of India reports, and will join the squad for a 45-day training camp in Delhi beginning May 20. Formerly an assistant with the Utah Jazz and Cleveland Cavaliers, Natt had a brief stint as head coach of the Sacramento Kings for the 2008-09 season, the paper said, and has worked closely not only with LeBron but also with former Jazz stars John Stockton and Karl Malone. 

The BFI also named Pete Gaudet as the head coach of the women's national team, and selected Zak Penwell as the strength and conditioning coach for all national players. 

Natt has a 13-year coaching experience with NBA teams like Utah Jazz and Cleveland Cavaliers. He was also the head coach of Sacramento Kings during the 2008-09 NBA season. Apart from working with LeBron James, Natt was also associated with NBA legends John Stockton and Karl Malone. As a player, Natt had a three-year career with the Indiana Pacers and the Jazz.

Suggesting that the move has some association with the NBA's ongoing efforts to promote basketball in India, as well as IMG's moves to promote Indian sports outside of cricket, a BFI official told the Indian Express that it took plenty of reassurances from India's previous coaches — Bill Harris and WNBA player Tamika Raymond — to convince the three new coaches to make the trek to India. The official said India's NBA pointman, Troy Justice, and Bobby Sharma, formerly with NBA and now with IMG Reliance, also helped convince the men to take up the "seemingly unglamorous" Indian assignment. The official said renumeration was yet to be discussed, but it will be generous and in keeping with the coaches' reputations.  

The men's team's next test will come at the mid-September FIBA Asian championship in China.