<p>American basketball star, Chris Paul says youngsters in India need to be educated about basketball for the sport to grow here.<br /><br />  <table style="width: 118px; height: 42px" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" width="118" align="right" border="1">  <tbody>  <tr>  <td><img alt="" src="/imagedata/2011/feb/cp.jpg" border="0" /></td></tr>  <tr>  <td>  <p align="center"><span style="font-size: 8pt">Chris Paul</span></p></td></tr></tbody></table>"For the sport to grow, first one has to educate the kids about it. Only with proper training and constant encouragement will they improve.<br />u00a0<br />Paul slammed the view that basketball is predominantly a tall man's game. "One doesn't need to be 6 feet, 5 inches tall to be a ball player. Your hard work gets you there, not your height," Paul told Sunday MiD DAY. <br /><br />The New Orleans Hornets point guard admits it's the encouragement he got as a kid that helped him excel in the sport. "My brother and I would play basketball in the backyard all day long. My dad is a sports fanatic and he encouraged us and gave us freedom to choose sport as a career," said Paul, who also played American football in college.<br /><br />The 25-year-old turned an Olympic gold winner when United States of America clinched gold at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. <br /><br />He was voted the starting point guard for the 2011 Western Conference All-Star Team last month. This will be Paul's fourth appearance as an All-Star and second as a starter.</p>

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American basketball star, Chris Paul says youngsters in India need to be educated about basketball for the sport to grow here

Don't need to be tall to excel in basketball: Chris Paul

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Don't need to be tall to excel in basketball: Chris Paul

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