NBA Awaits Satnam From India, So Big and Athletic at 14

[htown11]

http://i297.photobucket.com/albums/mm233/lebronze23/satnam-1110-307.jpg

 

^ 14 years old lol

 

Satnam Singh Bhamara did not grow up dreaming about playing in the NBA -- because he never saw the game. He didn't even know what basketball was.

 

He just grew.

 

And his dreams were mostly what he read in books, limited to his life in a tiny village in the middle of nowhere, a faraway outpost in the state of Punjab, India, close to the Pakistan border, where his father farmed, and he too, expected to farm one day.

 

Then his father told him a story, a sad story about long-ago missed opportunity, about a game he knew and loved but never was allowed to play, a game he quietly wanted his son to try, offering a window to a whole different world.

 

There were no basketball courts in his village to play on, no cable television to deliver the games, so his father sent him away, where others could teach him to play, quickly discovering he had an incredible gift, an athleticism very unusual for someone growing so fast and so large, leading him down the path he walks today.

 

In a country of 1.3 billion people, 7-foot, 250-pound Satnam Singh Bhamar has become a beacon for basketball hope.

 

At age 14.

 

"Satnam could one day do the same thing for India that Yao Ming did in China -- put the spotlight on basketball through an entire country,'' said Troy Justice, the NBA Director of Basketball Operations in India who has watched him play many times. "It really could be something.''

 

Despite the league's already-strong global flavor today -- there are 84 international players from 38 different countries or territories -- there never has been a player from India on an NBA roster.

 

Satnam may well be the first a few years from now, opening the door to a monstrous but untapped market.

 

Satnam came to the United States for the first time six weeks ago, one of 29 student athletes (both male and female in three different sports) from India who will train at the renowned IMG Academy in Bradenton, Fla, as part of a new scholarship program to promote, develop and manage sports and entertainment in that country.

 

Although the program was designed to last three months before this group leaves and another arrives, Satnam and his burgeoning skills won't be going home anytime soon. It's like gold has been discovered in the hills, and this diamond in the rough will be carefully polished.

 

"Satnam is on track to be a very, very good long-term basketball player,'' said Dan Barto, director of player development at IMG Basketball Academy, who recently returned from India where he conducted several coaching clinics. "His biggest weakness now is our biggest strength here when it comes to developing players -- neuromuscular firing -- overall body control. His potential is pretty amazing.''

 

That potential starts with his size, which is incredible itself. At age 14, he is expected to grow for another couple of years. For now, he wears a size-22 basketball shoe. His hands swallow the ball. His father, Balbir Singh Bhamara, is 7-2. His grandmother on his father's side is 6-9.

 

How crazy is that, the guy could be the bridge that connects India to the NBA the same way Yao did. I'm Indian I would love to see that happen lol.

 

http://nba.fanhouse.com/2010/11/10/nba-awaits-satnam-from-india-so-big-and-athletic-at-14/

[AboveLegit]

This would be great for the league and for Middle Eastern countries. I hope the kid pans out the way he's expected to.

[kingfish]

First indian bball player lol.

[Real Deal]

Not to rain on anyone's parade, but just keep in mind that there have been a LOT of international players that have traveled this same road, and failed. While it's not really time to shut the door on him yet, Hamed Haddadi was supposed to be that "Yao Ming" figure for Iran. People were raving about Pavel Podkolzin in Russia when he was younger. These big guys get everyone excited because, honestly, you don't see many of them overseas that can actually play like a big man...and at an NBA level...so when you run into Yao Ming, Marc Gasol and even Dirk Nowitzki representing their countries in the NBA, you start looking for that next international big.

[The Lone Granger]

Dang, that's impressive. At age 14, and already 7-feet tall? How tall could he be once he gets to the NBA? If he keeps growing like most kids do, then he'll probably end up being taller than Yao Ming. This kid could be a big star in the future assuming he keeps on the trail that people are expecting.

[Hawks Fly High]

Let's hope he starts practicing those free throws early on

[ChosenOne]

http://a323.yahoofs.com/ymg/ept_sports_nba_experts__65/ept_sports_nba_experts-247286625-1289424644.jpg?ymFMKEEDI6zqovib

 

Size, in and of itself, is no guarantee when it comes to trying to predict NBA stardom. Or even a chance at an NBA roster.

 

Through the years, we've seen countless 7-footers from several countries fall short, so to speak, time and time again when it comes to trying to hold their own at the NBA level. The Americans clearly lead the league in failing at this aspect, but a dozen other countries have flubbed as well.

 

One country that hasn't taken to the ring, or the court, yet? India. And though this massive nation hasn't had a player play or even be drafted by an NBA team, it's not easy to see why Satnam Singh Bhamara might not be the exception to the rule. After all, the 7-footer has scouts drooling over his skills.

 

The catch?

 

He's only 14.

 

But he's also 7-feet tall.

 

Once again, if you missed that: 7-feet tall, and 14 years of age.

 

Yahoo! Sports

Edited November 11, 2010 by ChosenOne

[Guest The REAL STL10]

This kid will NEVER play in the NBA.

[Check my Stats]

Somehow I doubt he is as extremely skilled as Yao.

[Clutch]

14 years old my asssssssssssss

[xx.]

This would be great for the league and for Middle Eastern countries. I hope the kid pans out the way he's expected to.

India is not in the midlde east brah

 

David Stern is gonna pull some bullshiit making a team draft him to bring more money and attention to the league, its not really good for the league, its good for Stern

Edited November 11, 2010 by xx.

[Flash]

Kid won't ever step foot on a NBA court.

[Oliver P]

7 feet, 250 pounds at 14 ??!! That's quite amazing indeed lol...

 

Funny cause Gheorghe Muresan started to play basketball at the age of 14 as well, thanks to his dentist who was also a basketball referee lol. I don't know how tall was Muresan at that age though... But the reason why Muresan was that tall was because of a disease in fact, of a pitutuary disorder. Gheorghe even had to have surgery as he was 7'7 and kept growing... Hope for this kid that he doesn't got the same problem.

 

Well anyhow that's nice for India, let's hope that this kid will be able to be one day a part of the biggest league in the world.

 

 

By the way I don't know if you know this but there's two other Indian phenoms, two brothers, Sim Bhullar, who's 7'4 at 17 and Tanveer Bhullar who's 7'2 at 15. Well they are Canadians and were born and raised in Canada, but they are of Indian descent, as a matter of fact their parents are Indians and emigrated from India before they were born. Here's a video of them :

 

 

And another a video of Sim :

 

 

And an article on them :

 

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2010/writers/luke_winn/07/01/sim-bhullar/index.html

 

 

Who knows, maybe the three players will be in the NBA in a few years. That would be terrific for basketball in India.

[Flash]

Dude looks slow as hell. He'd get abused in the league and probably in college.

[Check my Stats]

So you are going to draw conclusions 5 years before he is eligible for the league? Come on. I am the last one who will hype up a foreign unknown, but to write off a 7 foot tall 14 year old basketball player is just foolish. Tim Duncan didn't even start playing basketball until he was in 8th grade or something like that if I remember correctly, this kid could easily develop competent skills, not to mention he should still grow some more.

[Hawks Fly High]

That's just how STL rolls. makes bold statements without support. and Flash just had a strong opinion i guess.

[htown11]

David Stern is gonna pull some bullshiit making a team draft him to bring more money and attention to the league, its not really good for the league, its good for Stern

 

I don't see how globalizing the game is bad for the league?

[Newman]

This dude is 14? He must have a damn high body growth rate.

 

Anyway, best of luck to him and hopefully he develop some post-up skills and other essential aspects to become a good big man before declaring for the NBA. Given his young age and how early the scouts discovered him, I am sure they can train him into becoming a good player.

[ChosenOne]

Both Sim Bhullar and Tanveer Bhullar both look miserably out of shape, let alone the fact that I don't think I saw them take a dribble ever.

[Oliver P]

Dude looks slow as hell. He'd get abused in the league and probably in college.

 

It's normal to be slow when you're that tall... I already talked about Muresan in this thread, well he sure is among the slowest player to ever play this game, yet he still had a decent NBA career. It was hard for him at the start but then he had some very good seasons in Washington in the 90's, at the time where there were still real centers in the league... His career was short due to injuries but he still showed that he could play among the very best. And if he could do it despite his slowness, you can be sure that those kids can do it too.

 

 

Both Sim Bhullar and Tanveer Bhullar both look miserably out of shape, let alone the fact that I don't think I saw them take a dribble ever.

 

Yeah but c'm'on let's not get over excited, they're still very, very young, it's unfair to judge them now...

 

 

I don't see how globalizing the game is bad for the league?

 

Because there is sadly still some people who do not know that there are other countries who know what basketball is all about...

 

I already made a post about it in another thread so I'm just gonna quote myself here :

 

The rest of the world knows how to play basketball you know... I think that it's clearly been proved this last decade when, not only Team USA failed three times in a row (2002, 2004 and 2006), but they also almost lost in 2000 and 2008. As a matter of fact if Jasikevicius shot at the end of the Lietuva-USA game in 2000 was good, Lietuva would have won. And Spain almost beat Team USA in 2008. Not only that but they even had a lot of troubles against Argentina despite the fact that they had ONLY Scola (Ginobili was injured), yes the other players in that team were not only NBA players but they weren't even stars in the league they played in... And in 2006 Team USA lost against Greece, there were not even ONE NBA player in that team.

 

Even worse several NBA franchises lost against several European teams those past few years as well. I said even worse cause those teams didn't have any chemistry issues (contrary to Team USA...) as all the players knew each other very well... The last one was even the champs, the Lakers, who lost against Barcelona WITH THE NBA RULES. I think that all of this clearly shows that the rest of the world knows how to play basketball indeed.

 

There is a huge international influence in the NBA now, and it can only get bigger as more and more international players will play in the big league. The time when Europeans didn't have a chance to prove what they could do (like when Petrovic has to sit on the bench for two years in Portland before he had a chance to show how great he truly was in New Jersey for example) is clearly gone now. And this European influence only brought terrific things in the National Basketball Association. For example who's the team who's been the most European like this past decade ? The San Antonio Spurs. As a matter of fact they've been among the very first teams to give their chance to international players, they didn't hesitate to draft Parker, Ginobili and Udrih or sign Oberto when no one else wanted them for example, and even if they didn't play for them they also drafted Scola, Barbosa or Dragic... The Spurs knew before anyone else that there were talents all over the world. Pop's always been a fan of overseas basketball anyhow and he always said that FIBA had a big influence on him. And this international influence has be nothing but good if you asked me, not only the Spurs were the second most succesful team of the 2000's with 3 rings but they were the only team who won at least 50 games every season.

 

I believe that the US will always be the country of basketball. That even when the rest of the World will play at the same level (it will happen and sooner that some people might think..) as them they will still be considered as the best in basketball, just like Brazil is still considered as the best in soccer despite the fact that they do not win every time... But that doesn't change the fact that the rest of the world showed that they know how to play basketball, that some of the best basketball players ever are not American (some of them never played in the NBA, players like Papaloukas, Oscar or Bodiroga for example) and that the globalization of the game has nothing but a positive influence on the NBA and helped it become a better league. I think that it's time for everyone to realize that, because it is definitely a fact.

[ChosenOne]

I am not judging, all I am saying is that when you are given a gift (of height lol) you really should not waste it, if I were them i would be working on my ball game all day everyday knowing that I have a very good chance to make it somewhere.

[Oliver P]

Yeah you're right, I agree with you about that... But that's maybe what they're doing, we don't know. I hope for them that they're working on their game everyday anyhow lol.