"The feeling is unreal, but it has happened and I feel that my entry will certainly open the doors for many aspiring basketballers in India to dream big," Bhamara said after the draft. "Cricket is a religion in India but now I have given hope to so many kids back home. It's time they took basketball as a sport as well."
A teenaged basketball player from Ballo Ke, a tiny village in Punjab with a population of 800, has made India proud on Friday. Nineteen-year-old Satnam Singh Bhamara became the first Indian to be drafted in the NBA after being picked up by the Dallas Mavericks.
Bhamara also becomes the first player to enter the league since the NBA put age restrictions in 2005 without playing in college, professional foreign league or the D-League. The 7.2-foot tall, 132kg weighing Bhamara hasn't played a game of competitive basketball in college, professionally overseas, or in the NBA Development League. Yet, he was chosen as the 52nd overall pick of the draft in the second round.
"The feeling is unreal, but it has happened and I feel that my entry will certainly open the doors for many aspiring basketballers in India to dream big," Bhamara said after the draft. "Cricket is a religion in India but now I have given hope to so many kids back home. It's time they took basketball as a sport as well."
Honing his skills at the government-funded Ludhiana Basketball Academy, Bhamara impressed Troy Justice, NBA Director of Basketball Operations in India at the NBA Mahindra Challenge – a multi-city, community-based basketball league.
In 2010, aged 14, Bhamara was one of 29 Indian athletes who moved to the United States to be trained at the IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida, as part of a scholarship programme.
Over a month ago, he had been invited to undergo pre-draft workouts for seven different franchises including the Mavericks. "There were no hints that one team was more interested in me than the other. I just wanted to get picked, it didn't matter where. Anywhere would do," he said.
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