There is eating your cereal with a fork. Then there is washing it down with bleach to keep Covid away.
The Indian Panthers’ entry into the New Zealand basketball league is only a little bonkers by comparison.
Panthers general manager Arran Batish is not above laughing at himself.
He roared at suggestions the initial announcement could have been confused with an April Fool’s joke, and he is aware there is some scepticism within the New Zealand basketball community.
"I completely understand that it is a wild concept for people," he told the Otago Daily Times.
"I don’t think people are going to truly understand the value of it at least for a year or two.
"But we do want to make it mutually beneficial for everybody."
That mutually beneficial thesis needs some exploration.
The Panthers will be playing in a different time zone, which will present a challenge for engaging fans back home.
But their investors are playing a long game. Their focus is on developing the game in India, and the decision to fund a team to play in the NBL and the Tauihi women’s league is a stepping stone towards that.
As for what is in it for the New Zealand basketball community? The answer is eyeballs.
There are 1.4 billion people in India. If you can mobilise even a tiny fraction of them then you have expanded your global reach significantly.
Whether that can be achieved or not remains unclear.
"All the investment we’re making now is for the future, and we will hopefully see those rewards coming back," Batish said.
"And also it is giving the NBL an opportunity, and all of their clubs and owners, to tap into a completely different market that they wouldn’t be able to or have been able to have done previously."
Turning a blank slate into a playing roster takes more than just enthusiasm, and the Panthers NBL side is starting from a long way back.
Their opening game is against the Hawkes Bay Hawks in Napier on March 12.
"I can absolutely understand people are a bit nervous from our radio silence.
"There has been a lot going on over in India ... but now our focus is on New Zealand and making sure we get to the professional level and get to the level the New Zealand NBL is expecting from us, which we can absolutely achieve.
"Now it’s just about making sure we pick the right players to be as competitive as we can.
"We’re hoping to make a coaching announcement [this] week. But I just have to be a little bit tight-lipped at the moment.
"And all of our players are currently in the INBL [Indian National Basketball League].
"The whole point of doing what we’re doing is about player development and giving these guys the opportunity to be playing a high-quality level of basketball.
"The way we’re going to work is we’re going to basically be bringing across the top 15 Indian players out of the INBL to play in the New Zealand NBL.
"The exact squad is still yet to be determined, but we’re looking at about 20 players at the moment and trying to narrow that down."
They also plan to sign a couple of imports and have agreed to attract a prominent New Zealand player back to the league.
The Panthers will be based at the Bruce Pulman Arena in Papakura and will have to pay for the accommodation for everyone.
That is a lot of added expense but they are well-funded, Batish said.
"The investors aren’t doing this for a one- or a two-year experience. This is building a legacy and building a foundation for the future.
"And we’re kind of lucky with the backing that we’ve got from India because these expenses are quite large expenses, but this is a global programme that we’re putting together."
The Panthers have already done some work to build their New Zealand support.
"Where we’re based in South Auckland, there is a very large Indian population ... and that’s something that we’re going to tap into.
"In our conversations at the end of last year with the Sikh community, they’re incredibly excited to have Indian players from India competing in a New Zealand league.
"It will give them the opportunity to, you know, support their Indian culture in a different sporting environment."
