NBA sets sights squarely on India as its new frontier

TORONTO, March 17 (Reuters) - When the National Basketball Association staged its All-Star Game in Toronto this year it was another subtle sign of a league's global ambitions.

It marked the first time the mid-season showcase had been held outside the United States yet could hardly be considered daring or groundbreaking with the NBA firmly entrenched in North America's third biggest metropolis for over two decades.

In a sense the NBA returned home to its roots since the sport was invented by Canadian James Naismith in 1891.

But there are no such basketball bloodlines in China, now the NBA's biggest foreign market, and even fewer ties to India, the cricket-crazed subcontinent that the league has…