How Tibet Went Crazy for Hoops

The Atlantic, 2019 (6,000 Words)

Monks, nomads, and a sport’s unlikely ascent in a remote corner of the globe. A Notable Story in the Best American Sports Writing 2020.

Basketball first appeared in the Tibetan highlands about 100 years ago. At that time, the rugged, sparsely populated Tibetan plateau was ruled by warlords on its eastern frontier and in central and western Tibet by the Buddhist government of the Dalai Lama.