At last week’s NBA Summer League — a prelude to the main season — in Las Vegas, a 7-foot 2-inch Indian teenager was the toast of the basketball fraternity. He soaked up a whirlwind fortnight. An NBA broadcasting crew was at his heels documenting every step of his size 20-foot and his management team was flooded with interview requests.
Satnam Singh Bhammara’s trailblazing journey as the first Indian in the NBA drew as much media frenzy back home in India. It was hard to miss his imposing figure whenever Sony Six, which has partnered with NBA to broadcast live matches in India, slipped in congratulatory messages at regular interval. His teleconferences with the national print media had an overwhelming turnout.
Celebrities, too, jumped on the bandwagon. After Satnam was drafted in to play for the Dallas Mavericks, icons such as Sachin Tendulkar and Amitabh Bachchan took to Twitter to celebrate the historic occasion. “I want to give back to the country for all the blessings I have received so far,” said Satnam in an email interview.
The 19-year-old showed progress in four games he played in the Summer League, but experts don’t see him making his NBA floor debut this year. They say he is a “project in the making.” Next season, he will play for the Texas Legends, the Mavericks’ D-League team.
“We will give him time to develop,” Mavericks owner Mark Cuban said joking that Satnam “would probably grow another six or seven inches.” Satnam, too, knows these are still early days in his dream journey. “I am sure I will eventually play in the NBA. After one or two years, I will have a lot of experience. Until then, I am trying to help open the gate for the young people back home,” he added.
From the perspective of the league — which is busy plotting marketing strategies to replicate the success it had in China with homegrown talent Yao Ming as the face of its project — having an Indian player is a masterstroke to popularise NBA in a cricket-crazy country. However, Satnam’s entry into one of the most popular leagues in the world didn’t happen overnight. The seeds were sown in 2008 with NBA launching its grassroots programme. The tie-up between Basketball Federation of India and IMG-Reliance gave further fillip as Satnam was handpicked to train at the Florida-based IMG academy.
Apart from shaping his basketball career, the stint at the IMG academy has made a sea change in Satnam’s personality. “Initially, among my friends at the academy, I would be the one who wouldn’t talk much. I had to rely on other Indian students to translate till I could pick up some words,” said Satnam.
The good support system at IMG helped him overcome the culture shock and he slowly came to terms with life miles away from home. “It was tough due to the language barrier, but my coaches and friends always helped me improve. Then I got in touch with Sim Bhullar (first player of Indian decent to play in the NBA), so we pretty much spoke in Punjabi,” said Satnam.
For a Punjabi who binges on tandoori roti and dal makhani, Satnam had to find new ways to satisfy his gastronomic needs. “Apart from missing my folks, I was craving for my mom’s hand-made rotis. But I learnt to eat vegetables stuffed in a bread to make it a sandwich. The new experiences moulded me into the person I am today,” he said.
The American journey, however, has brought in its share of positives. Satnam, who always wore tailor-made kurta and pyjama back home in India, finds it easier to get a pair of jeans for his long legs. “Being tall has both advantages and disadvantages. I have learnt to live with both. I guess people would think that it’s hard for me to walk around like that but I am used to it,” said Satnam, who was just an inch shy of 7-foot when he was 13 years old.
Questions most asked by the public and the press: “Initially, it was about my height. Now, it is obviously about Dallas and how I made it from a small village to the NBA.” On meeting Sachin Tendulkar: It was one of the best moments of my life. The picture with him was one of the best in my collection. Other interests in your life: “I love Bollywood movies. I never miss any film of Akshay Kumar and Amitabh Bachchan.”
