Satnam Singh becomes first Indian to play in NBA
Satnam Singh Bhamar became the first Indian in history to make it to the National BasketBall Association (NBA) League. Hailing from Punjab's small village Ballo Ke, 19-year old Singh was chosen in NBA's 52nd draft. Satnam will play for Dallas Mavericks whose owner Mark Cuban believes that Singh's presence in NBA will boost the increasing popularity of basketball in India.
National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America, considered to be the world's premier men's professional basketball league. It has 30 franchise member clubs out of which 29 are American and 1 is Canadian. The league was founded in 1946 as BasketBall Association of America but later got merged with National Basketball League in 1949, thereby adopting its current name.
The NBA draft is an event which takes place every year to select eligible players for the league. Generally, college basketball players who have finished their four-year degree are eligible; others have to declare their eligibility. A lottery system is used determine the draft order using a weighted average system. This enables the weakest team to get the best draft picks.
On 14 August 2014, Sim Bhullar became the first Indian origin player of NBA. He had joined the NBA as a Sacramento Kings player but later got affiliated to Reno Bighorns. Bhullar is the sixth tallest player of the NBA with a height of 7 feet 5 inches. He was earlier in the basketball team of New Mexico State University.
A record number of 101 international players played in NBA 2014 breaking the previous record of 92 foreign players in 2013.
Satnam Singh who made it to NBA is elated at his selection. He said that his selection will open new doors of opportunities for young Indians to play basketball. He was representing the national team and later moved to Florida for training before getting noticed by the NBA for his exceptional talent in the game.
