Raptors Superfan Nav Bhatia to be Honored in New Gallery at Basketball Hall of Fame

Josh Martin, Feb 18, 2020
Posted in Features

Kobe Bryant, Kevin Garnett, Tim Duncan and their accompanying inductees in the class of 2020 won’t be the only ones making history at the Basketball Hall of Fame this year. The late summer festivities will also include the opening of a superfan gallery in Springfield, Massachusetts, with Toronto Raptors supporter Nav Bhatia among the first to be featured.

The India-born, Toronto-area businessman and philanthropist will join the late actor and director Penny Marshall, who was a fixture at Los Angeles Clippers games, in the Hall of Fame’s new exhibit.

“Me being in the presence of such great basketball talent in the world right here, this is so unreal,” Nav said at the announcement on Friday, per the CBC. “I'm still in shock and that's why I'm accepting this on behalf of not just the Toronto fans, Raptors fans, but all the fans, basketball fans and the NBA fans all over the world.”

can’t say this is a dream come true because this isn’t something you dream about as a fan. To be honoured into the @Hoophall as the first honouree into the Superfan Gallery. What an incredible day. Don’t wake me up please. Thank you to the Hall and the @Raptors organization pic.twitter.com/727NnUEtBP
— Nav Bhatia Superfan (@superfan_nav) February 14, 2020

Nav emigrated from Delhi, India to Canada in 1984, and has attended every Raptors home game (and many of the team’s road games) since the franchise first started playing in the NBA in 1995. Three years later, Toronto christened him with the official title of team superfan. Last year, Nav became the first fan in NBA history to receive an NBA championship ring when Raptors general manager Masai Ujiri presented him with the shiny keepsake.

Along the way, Nav has served as an ambassador for basketball in Canada. In addition to giving away tickets and hosting watch parties for fans, he started the Nav Bhatia Superfan Foundation, a nonprofit organization that raises money to build basketball courts and put on camps for kids in Canada and around the world.

Josh Martin is the Editorial Director of CloseUp360. He previously covered the NBA for Bleacher Report and USA Today Sports Media Group, and has written for Yahoo! Sports and Complex. He is also the co-host of the Hollywood Hoops podcast. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram.