This summer, many of us tried new things and went on exciting adventures, and some of us (like me), did nothing at all. The summer break is always joyful for everyone and is also a time to learn new things and practice what you love. Gaurrav Upadhye got a rare opportunity to not just practice what he loves, but take it further. This summer, he got invited to an NBA camp, right here in Dubai.
How much time and effort did you put into it?
The camp lasted about 5 hours per day for 15 days, so technically I was playing close to 75 hours for these three weeks. It made a huge impact on my game in a positive way.
You’ve gotten this far, so where did it all start from?
I started at the age of 9. I started basketball after watching Steph Curry torture defenses and score buckets from 30 feet out.
Why did you choose to play basketball?
After playing for a week or two, I realized how much better other kids were and how much better I needed to get to be at par with those other players, which motivated me to become better and a more complete basketball player.
How passionate are you about basketball?
I love basketball more than sleep and TV. I play at least two hours of basketball every single day. I love the sport more than I love friends and TV, basically.
How was your experience in this Summer Camp? How did it go?
The camp was very different from your normal basketball camp. We spent 5 hours each day which included a 30-minute warmup and it transitioned to a 1 hour 30 minute skills workout in different stations like shooting, finishing, defense, etc.
After that, we had a 15-minute break and warmup before the competitions started. We had many competitions such as a 3-pointer shooting contest, a skills contest, a 3v3 competition for about an hour, and then we had our 5v5 games for 2 hours.
I met people from all over the world. I had a friend who came from the Maldives, and people from different parts of the UAE came to play at the camp. We had great coaches. One of our coaches was a McDonald’s All-American (the highest honor that can be given to a player at the college level).
Our head coach was the technical director of the NBA Basketball School UAE and has trained with various NBA players. I played with many different people from all around the world and different coaches, too. It was a great experience and I gained a tremendous amount of basketball knowledge.
– Misha Raval, 9H (ft. Gaurrav Upadhye, 9H)