Durant and 3,459 children set world record in India

NBA champion Kevin Durant and 3,459 children from the Reliance Foundation Junior NBA programme in India have set a new record for the world's largest basketball lesson at multiple venues, it was announced Saturday.

Durant, 28, on his first-ever trip to India, led thousands of budding basketball players from the NBA Academy India, near New Delhi, to script a new Guinness World Record, an official statement said.

A group of youth were on site at the academy situated in Greater Noida area, the other boys and girls participated via satellite link from the cities of Bengaluru, Chennai, Hyderabad and Kolkata.

Considering the previous Guinness record involved around 600 children, the existing record had been broken easily, sports broadcaster ESPN said.

"Sharing my love of basketball with thousands of boys and girls across India was an unbelievable experience," said Durant from the Golden State Warriors, the Most Valuable Player of the 2017 NBA Finals.

"It was an honour to coach these amazing kids and to be part of this special day," he said.

Durant is in India to popularize basketball among youth in the country known for its love of cricket.

The Reliance Foundation Junior NBA is a basketball training initiative by NBA in India. It has reached more than 6 million youth and trained more than 5,000 physical education instructors nationwide since its launch in 2013.