Going for the rebound

Satnam Singh is eager to prove that his career is far from over, despite his fall from grace

- NEERU BHATIA

Satnam Singh Bhamara weighed 104kg and was nearly seven feet tall when he was sent to the IMG basketball training academy in Bradenton, Florida, in 2010. He was just 15. The dream to play in the land of opportunity was inching towards reality; the tie-up between the Basketball Federation of India (BFI) and IMG-Reliance got him a scholarship.

At 20, the dream came true for the heavyset Indian cager, who hails from a modest family of farmers in Balloke village in Barnala, Punjab. In July 2015, he became the first Indian-born player to be drafted into the National Basketball Association (NBA). He was picked by the Dallas Mavericks. Satnam was also the first player—since age restrictions were introduced in 2005—to enter the league without having played collegiate basketball or in an overseas professional league or in the NBA development league (D-League).

But his stint with the Mavericks was short-lived. In October 2015, he was acquired by Texas Legends, the D-League affiliate of the Mavericks. Deemed slow, he played only nine games that season. He was signed on for the next season, but he got very little game time and returned to Balloke a frustrated man. In 2017, he played in the United Basketball Alliance Pro Basketball League in India, and in 2018 he was signed by St. John’s Edge of the National Basketball League of Canada for one season.