At the Sree Kanteerava outdoor basketball courts in Bengaluru, two young players were immersed in an intense one-on-one scrimmage.
The bright afternoon light was blinding, yet, BS Gautham, through his two-tone sunglasses, effortlessly dissected their game from afar before walking over to them.
It must have been hard for these youngsters to listen to a middle-aged stranger, with a black bandana, blue shades and a handle-bar moustache, teaching them the nuances of a behind-the-back dribble. Little did they realise that the man who pioneered the move in India — with a little help from Magic Johnson VCR tapes — was the one taking them through it.
“Not Basketball Material”
Born in the Malleshwaram locality of Bengaluru in 1969, Gautham would often find himself sidelined at the local Beagles club courts and told he was not “basketball material”.
“When we used to play, there was just one ball between 40 people so young players like me would not get the ball,” said Gautham. “People told me that my body language was too slow and I should stop playing basketball. The only way to work on that was to practice when no one was around.”
Late night sessions improved his shooting touch, but he needed to do more to overcome this “body language” situation. A four kilometre jog to neighbouring Mahalakshmi Layout at 4 am was followed by 40-metre uphill sprints with weights tied to his feet.
The extra speed work helped. Gautham was included in Karnataka’s under-13 squad, but didn’t get much playing time. The trend continued into his under-16 days, until a slew of injuries to teammates left the management with no choice, but to start this scrawny kid. An MVP award at the Pre-Asian Under-16 Tournament in Mysuru followed and the journey of Gautham had begun.
Defying the odds to play for India
“When I was 16, I got selected for the Karnataka under-18 and under-21 teams, and that really motivated me. I didn’t know how far I was going to go, but I knew basketball was the answer,” said Gautham.
By 1988, the same year he was promoted to the helm of the state team, he was made captain of the Indian Junior team. But soon disaster struck when he met with a serious accident and was in coma for 41 days.
“I had seven fractures on my face. A fractured collar bone and several fractures to my legs,” he said. “People didn’t think I was going to walk again, let alone play. I remember the surgeon telling me that if the ball hits my face, chances are that I would not survive.”
Defying the odds, Gautham returned to the starting five of the Indian men’s team in 1991. Already putting in eight hours between the court and the gym, he also started shooting in the dark with a lamp on top of the board — a trick he learnt from Rajasthan’s Surendra Kumar Kataria, one of India’s finest shooters — to improve his accuracy. He also trained with judokas, wrestlers and sprinters to mix up his workouts.
The Basketball Federation of India rewarded Gautham by making him the captain of the senior national team in 1996, where his reign as floor leader continued till 2002.
International coaching consultant
Fast forward to 2017, Gautham is a manager at a bank. He is married to Sushma Vasudev, a former State-level basketball player, and is a father of two doting children — Adhya and Ananya. Now, nearing 50, he still makes time to play almost every day at the local IISC Gymkhana courts.
“When I look at school kids play even now, I watch with the intention of learning,” said Gautham. “See, youngsters are free in their mind. They are far more creative. They don’t know what they’re doing but everyone has something unique.
“I used to call five kids and play one against five to develop my skills. I also used to play with my dog. I had a German Shepherd and I used to dribble and try to avoid it from getting to the ball.”
Gautham always had it all charted out, and his teammates loved him for it.
“I used to assess my opponents and then my team-mates. I could tell by looking at my teammates’ faces, their state of mind. If a player looks a bit stressed, I would not give him the ball for a few minutes. I used to give him one if he was 100 per cent free. If that one goes in, he gets into a flow,” he explained with gusto.
The Karnataka State Basketball Association may have forgotten to utilise his understanding of the game, but Bangladesh, who witnessed Gautham play during the 1990s in their league, used his experience for their men’s side.
“They (Bangladesh) hired me in 2006. I go for 21 days every year,” said Gautham. “If somebody asks me to coach, I would. But no one from Karnataka has asked me so….”
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Gautham, although happy with the abundance of talent available in India, isn’t satisfied with the quality of coaching or administration. He repeatedly derides their ever-changing views, saying they need to “have a strategy, show dedication, allow creativity and not come down on children for being expressive.”
He speaks from a place where he was given a free hand in dictating plays. He looks back and thinks of a time when no one gave him a manual and forced him to adhere. He reminisces of the very first time he tied on his bandana and felt freedom.
“It was just to stand out,” he says when asked about his bandana. Well, No. 7 did stand out, but it wasn’t just because of the bandana. It was always much more than that.
A glimpse of Gautham, even now, and you’ll understand that. Just ask those two kids at the Kanteerava stadium.
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