New Delhi: Satnam Singh Bhamara made history as he became the first Indian-born player to be drafted in the NBA. Dallas Mavericks picked the 7ft 2in star, who hails from Barnala in Punjab, in the NBA Draft on Thursday.
19-year-old is a centre and stands at 7’2″ and 290 pounds. He last played for the IMG Academy, a private boarding school in Florida, averaging 4.2 points and 2.7 rebounds in six games at the 2013 FIBA Asia Championships and 9.2 points, 8.4 rebounds and 2.2 blocks this season.
Before Satnam, no Indian has ever been part of the NBA Draft. Canadian-born Sim Bhullar became the NBA’s first player of Indian descent to play in the league last year.
“A lot of people are texting me every day, ‘When are you going to the NBA?’ And I say, ‘It’s not easy.’ You work hard, then you go play in the NBA. It’s not easy for anyone,” Satnam was quoted as saying by news.com.au on Thursday.
Satnam also spoke about how Indians are taking to the sport in the country stating it has developed over the last few years.
India is a lot better now, A lot of NBA coaches are over there training in Bombay, Delhi and Punjab – my state – too. It’s gotten a lot better in the last two years, three years. It’s (very) popular over there,” he said.
When he was 12, Satnam was sent to a government-funded basketball academy and in after two years he moved to Florida where has spent the last five years developing his game.
Bureau Report
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