Satnam Singh Bhamara became first Indian basketball player to join NBA

Satnam Singh Bhamara on 25 June 2015 became the first Indian national to join National Basketball Association (NBA) of USA. He is 19 years old.

The Punjab-born player was the 52nd overall pick at the 2015 draft by the Dallas Mavericks. He will represent the team during the upcoming 2015-16 season.

Earlier, in July 2014, Sim Bhullar became the first basketball player of Indian origin to join the NBA. He hails from Canada and his parents are from Punjab. He played for a brief period for the Sacramento Kings during the 2014-15 season.

Also, in 2013, the Sacramento Kings became the NBA's first team to have an Indian-origin majority owner -- Vivek Ranadive.

About Satnam Singh Bhamara

• He was born at Ballo Ke near Ludhiana in Punjab. He is 7 ft 2 in tall and weighs 110 kg.
• He represented the Indian national basketball team at the 2011 FIBA Asia Championship and the 2013 FIBA Asia Championship.
• In 2010, he moved to Florida in USA as part of a scholarship program between IMG and Reliance for training. Since then, he has been training at the IMG Reliance Academy.
• With the inclusion in the Dallas Mavericks, he became the first player since the 2005 NBA draft to enter the draft without playing in college, overseas professionally, or in the NBA Development League.

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