Gulam Abbas Moontasir

Indian basketball player (1942–2022)

Gulam Abbas Moontasir (7 January 1942 – 15 November 2022) was an Indian professional basketball player.

Born in Mumbai, he was introduced to basketball by an American missionary at the age of nine at the courts at Nagpada in central Mumbai. He studied at Mumbai's Antonio D'Souza School and D. G. Ruparel College.

Moontasir played for his school, college, Bombay University and the Maharashtra State, in turn. He made his international debut in an exhibition match against Australia in Mumbai in 1960. He represented India in the quadrangular in Colombo in 1964 and captained the Indian side in the Asian Basketball Championship held in Bangkok in 1969 and 1975. By the age of 22, Moontasir had become the top player in the country's history. On international tours, he learned of different styles of play and recognized that the game needed to play in order for India to compete internationally. He identified three main problems: a stilted, outdated method of play, "ridiculous" refereeing, in which the referees officiated from their seats on the sidelines, and constant bickering by the governing authorities of the BFI. His attempts to bring the game forward were not well received by the authorities, who suspended him for three years. In 1970, he became the first Indian basketball player to receive the Arjuna Award in 1970 for his achievement in national sport. He played his last national level match at the age of 44 when he represented the Railways in the Federation Cup in 1986. Moontasir also authored the book Principles of Basketball.

Moontasir also played a role in several movies, including the 1981 film Khoon Ki Takkar and in the 1986 film Aashiana.