The basketball completion from the US is all set to step foot in India next month in Mumbai on 3rd and 4th October. The announcement of this event was made in the recent visit of PM Narendra Modi to Houston, Texas. On the same stage, United States President Donald Trump marked this as the ‘best export’ from the United States to India.
Popularly known as NBA stands for National Basketball Association. The sporting league is over 70 years old and has age following all over the world. The basketball league plays 30 teams in which 29 teams are from United States and a team from Canada. NBA brings the best players from all over the world on a single platform and is the biggest basketball league all across the world.
What makes the NBA’s India debut huge?
India is a sport-crazy country and we all know this. Be it Cricket, Football, Kabadi or whichever sport it be. Although the majority goes with cricket, football and basketball are the sports that have been on the rise in popularity in recent times. Not very back in 2015, the first time a player from Indian origin played in NBA. This was the beginning of players playing in the NBA. Since then there have been three players to either play or been roasted in the NBA.
Let’s have a look at these Trend-setters.
1) Sim Bhullar
Sim Bhullar was the first player to play in NBA. He is 7 foot 3 inches high and weighs 360 pounds (163 kg). In the first attempt, e went undrafted in 2014 but then he was signed in 2015 by Sacramento Kings Summer Leagues for 2 games then we were taken by Reno Bighorns where he played most of the 2014-15 games. He then went on to play his first NBA game in 2015 and scored 2 points against Utah Jazz. In the -16 season,he played for the Toronto Raptors. Bhullar played 39 games in this season averaging 9.6 points, 6.9 rebounds and 1.3 blockers per game. Currently, I’m Bhullar has been signed by Guangxi Weizhuang in the NBL.
2) Satnam Singh
Satnam Singh was a big sensation in India since he landed a contract with the NBA. Satnam Singh is 7-foot and 2-inches high and weighs 290 pounds (132 kg). He was selected by the Dallas Mavericks in the 2015 draft as the 52nd pick overall. He did not play for the team in the season but was picked up by a G-League affiliate- the Texas Legends. He averaged 1.5 points and 1.5 rebounds per game in 2015-16 and got a renewed contract by the Texas Legends for 2016-17. He is currently signed by St. John’s Edge in the NBL in Canada.
3) Amyot Singh
Amjyot Singh was first drafted in 2014. He is 6-foot and 8-inches and weighs 229 pounds (104 kg). He joined Oklahoma City Blue, but before joining he played 2 overseas seasons. He played for Oklahoma City Blue which is a Thunder’s G-League affiliate for the 2017-18 season. He played 30 games that season in which he averaged 2.7 points.