Basketball “superfan” Nav Bhatia becomes the first fan to be honored in the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame. The Toronto Raptors, the NBA team Bhatia supports, tweeted to congratulate their fans. “A true icon. @Hoophall, congrats on being inducted into @superfan_nav”, tweeted the Toronto Raptors. Bhatia posted several pictures on her Instagram account to celebrate the honour. “In the greatest building in basketball, the name superfan Nov Bhatia will be immortalized. There is now a turban and the first fan to be honored in the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame,” Bhatia wrote on Instagram.
A true icon.
Congratulations are included @Hoofhall, @superfan_nav. #WeTheNorth pic.twitter.com/Fw8TAFL8NN
— Toronto Raptors (@Raptors) May 17, 2021
In another post displaying his turban, jersey and other memorabilia, Bhatia was seen ignoring the showcase.
“A fan never dreams of what I’ve been through. From a ring to a parade and now this. I can’t describe the feeling of seeing my jersey and turban in the greatest building basketball has ever seen,” Bhatia wrote in an Instagram post.
According to his website, Nav Bhatia hasn’t missed a single Raptors game since 1995. On the website he states his mission is to “bring people of all ages and backgrounds together through the game of basketball so that they don’t have to face the discrimination they have faced in the Navy for years as a visible minority.”
To this end, Bhatia also started the Nov Bhatia Superfan Foundation, as noted on her website, a non-profit organization dedicated to raising money to build basketball courts and camps for kids in Canada and around the world.
Bayern Munich (USA, Canada) have showered praises for Bhatia on social media, with “superfans” congratulating them.
congratulations, @superfan_nav! pic.twitter.com/TisAr4Ha2n
— FC Bayern US (@FCBayernUS) May 19, 2021
“Congratulations, @superfan_nav!” Bayern Munich tweeted with a picture of Bhatia in a customized Bayern Munich jersey.
Los Angeles Lakers icon Kobe Bryant was posthumously inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame on May 15, part of a star-studded group that also included Tim Duncan and Kevin Garnett.
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