Satnam Singh is one of the first basketball players from India who was picked in the NBA Draft in 2015.
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At the age of nine, he was already five foot nine inches, making him the tallest adult in his village of Baloke in Punjab. At age 13, his height was six foot 11 inches and weighted 100 kgs. His shoe size was 18. His passion for basketball made many to believe that he would be like Yao Ming, the Chinese giant who had made big strides in the NBA while playing for the Houston Rockets. When he was picked in the 2015 NBA Draft by the Dallas Mavericks, Satnam Singh had fulfilled the dream of becoming the first Indian-born player to be drafted in the NBA.
Satnam’s exposure to the NBA came at a time in the 90s when the game was being popular in the world due to the exploits of Michael Jordan of the Chicago Bulls. Their style of play and the atmosphere that was generated at that point in time when it came to fan following and entertainment appealed to every NBA and sports fans the world over. The journey was arduous for Satnam, with his father constructing a basketball hoop in the dirt yard behind his home to wearing shoes that were been worn off due to his growth.
Satnam was later awarded a scholarship under the IMGR basketball training academy and shifted to Bradenton, Florida in September 2010. Despite knowing no English at the time, he was one of 29 student-athletes—male and female combined—to be selected to train at IMG Academy. During the 2014–15 season, he averaged 9.2 points, 8.4 rebounds and 2.2 blocks in less than 20 minutes per game for IMG, the No. 2 ranked team in the country. However, due to his poor English and lack of American citizenship, Satnam was ineligible for the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA).
Yet, he was picked in the NBA Draft by Dallas Mavericks but was later acquired by Texas Legends. During the draft, Satnam became the first player since the 2005 draft to enter without playing in college, overseas professionally, or in the NBA Development League.
When Satnam was trying his luck in India, the director of basketball operations for the NBA in India Troy Justice had said, “I’ve heard people talk, but we’re not sure they know how big he’ll get. He can be the chosen one for basketball in India.” In the last five years, Satnam is slowly making progress in the NBA and it might not be long before he gets a match in the major tournament of the NBA.
