Q&A: David Hollander on founding World Basketball Day

Basketball can be a platform where nations can come together. I want people to play the game, which will create the feeling, and create the bonding and understanding between other humans in that special space of basketball. If enough people do that one thing, on that one day, in 50 years it will be a day where peace is felt everywhere.

When did it first hit you that basketball is a global sport? Is there a particular moment or experience that stands out for you?

It’s funny because I never thought of it any other way. Wherever I’ve traveled, and I’ve been to a lot of places, basketball courts are a consistent visual. It’s a common space, a code of arms that everyone can participate in. I love where the NBA is now in terms of global growth, and I don’t think there’s been a sport that has been more intentional in becoming global. In the late 1890s, James Naismith would send boats to France, Brazil, Australia and China looking to spread this beautiful game. It’s amazing.

The NBA has been pivotal in basketball’s global growth. How do you see the NBA’s role not just in terms of entertainment but as a cultural ambassador for basketball?

The NBA, even if they stopped being global ambassadors, it would be hard because they have the game. There’s no other sport where you can get that close to the action. The NBA intentionally tries to give the game to as many people in the world as possible, almost like a public trust, to let the spirit of the game spread off the value of everything else it can evolve into as a cultural phenomenon.

I remind my students in class that the NBA has been a pioneer for so many things. It was the first league to completely shoulder its own women’s league; it was the first major North American professional league to have an openly gay athlete actively participate; the first to have a Black head coach; the first to recognize the power of cable television, the first to have a relationship with the National School System of China. However, feats like these are no surprise to me. It’s the thing that brings people together.

What can other regions, particularly those outside of traditional basketball powerhouses like the U.S./Europe, teach us about how the game can evolve?

I titled my book “How Basketball Can Save The World” not “How Basketball Can Save Basketball.” Basketball is okay. It always has been. Nikola Jokić famously said, “I don’t jump high, I don’t run fast, I just play basketball,” making one ask the question: What does it mean to play basketball? It means that this is a sport that recognizes the widest possible range of human talents. This is a sport that can’t solely be measured by individual greatness because it’s intrinsically a team game. It’s a sport where you watch a guy like Jokić, there’s the possibility for new categories that we haven’t even measured of how to be great in this game. So although there are different styles and systems from a development perspective, the answer lies within the ambiguity of the game.

What is your vision for the future of basketball, and what role do you hope World Basketball Day will continue to play in shaping that future?

I hope people say World Basketball Day was the initial platform where the world began to recognize and reposition basketball as a value system, as well as a social and developmental institution, on the same level as other global value systems such as art, literature and science. I think basketball has that kind of power, and I hope World Basketball Day is just the first statement of how much more basketball can be.

If you could look 20 years into the future, where do you see basketball? What changes do you hope to see in the sport, both in terms of its global influence and its cultural significance?

I hope people see the game as a shorthand for peace and community. A shorthand for cooperation and inclusivity. A gender-agnostic way of being connected. Almost like a periodic table of principles that you can apply and combine to solve the world’s most pressing problems. That’s what I hope.