Thirty-three years ago, the NBA went to China on a mission to raise the profile of basketball. They largely succeeded in their efforts, riding on the mass popularity of Yao Ming, a larger-than-life figure at 7'6" and the No.1 draft pick in 2002.
Most people in China did not really know what NBA was until Yao debuted for Houston Rockets. But once he made it to the NBA, everyone in China got hooked to the sport. Last year, the NBA's revenue in China reached USD 200 million, a credit to the estimated 300 million people who now play basketball in the country.
The league is now planning to invest in India, the world's second-most populated nation. While the NBA won't reveal financial projections about India, basketball has already taken off here with five million boys and girls playing the sport, reported the Tribune.
According to Sacramento Kings boss Vivek Ranadive, the NBA's first Indian-born majority owner, "While cricket is still the national pastime, basketball is the fastest-growing sport in India after soccer."
The NBA is looking to replicate the "Yao Ming phenomenon" in India. And to make that happen, they have zeroed in on Sim Bhullar, a Canadian basketball player of Indian origin. The 22-year-old Bhullar, a 7'5", 355-pound sophomore at New Mexico State, signed a 10-day contract with the Sacramento Kings, but two minutes and 41 seconds was all he could get on the court.
Bhullar, whose original name is Gursimran Singh Bhullar, is being projected as the first player of Indian descent to play professional basketball in the USA. The NBA India branded it “a watershed moment in Indian basketball history,” comparing the signing of Bhullar to that of Yao by the Houston Rockets 13 years ago.
But the reality is, Bhullar is the product of North American basketball system and he spent all his years playing in the NCAAs at New Mexico State. So the big question is, whether Bhullar would be able to do ‘Ming’ in India?
Well, when people talk about Bhullar, they don't mention he’s just another hoopsters from Canada to make the NBA, following in the footsteps of Basketball Hall of Fame member Bob Houbregs, or All-Star Jamaal Magloire. Yao, on the other hand, was born in China and was a product of their own coaching, and player development programme.
It would be difficult for the Indian basketball aspirants to connect with the success of Bhullar. They would perhaps identify more with 19-year-old Satnam Singh Bhamara, the first Indian to get drafted in the NBA.
When Bhullar was asked this on his visit to the Capital on Monday, he did not sound complaining. “I don’t know what to say about it. I am here to inspire the kids to take up the game. They can say that an Indian is already there, so it’s possible for them as well to dream that big.”
Does he think his short stint was planned to popularise the game in India? “I am just happy that I am one in a billion to have got a chance to play in the NBA. It’s a real honour. Hopefully, I can teach some tricks to these kids and be a role model for them.”