Satnam Singh, the NBA’s Indian pioneer
Since the moment Satnam Singh was drafted by the Dallas Mavericks in I’ve had two parallel thoughts: 1) This is amazing for India, the future of Indian basketball, and as a diehard basketball fan just cool to see a fellow Punjabi person get drafted in the NBA and 2) The entire experience feels like an unfortunate marketing-driven exploitation by IMG and the NBA.
While watching “One in a Billion”, a Netflix documentary about Singh’s journey to the NBA, those exact parallel thoughts remained omnipresent in my mind the whole time. At times the documentary felt like an infomercial for the NBA’s brand in India, for IMG, and Satnam Singh’s personal story fell into the background, almost like an actor playing a role in a movie.
Conversely, time spent discussing Satnam’s background and family, his struggles adapting to the American game, culture, and language was the documentary at it’s best and a reminder of the amazing journey Satnam has been on. The documentary also provided a small window into just how many people are involved in a player’s life and journey, an insight that is often lacking in the story-telling narratives built around the NBA.
This battle of cynicism and appreciation is all too familiar for sports fans, it’s what the entire culture of sports talk has become. Whether on Twitter or analysis on television, there’s no middle ground anymore. The truth is, Satnam Singh’s journey is remarkable and IMG deserves their fair share of credit for turning Satnam from an extremely raw product to a professional basketball player in the NBA D-League. Satnam represents a hope for basketball players in India and is a symbol for so many kids in India with a dream. No, not everybody can be blessed with a 7’2” frame, or be plucked out of obscurity and sent to Florida to train for years, but the path has been laid for that to happen.
More importantly, Satnam Singh is a symbol. A symbol that somebody of his background can pursue his dream and with hard work can change their destiny while helping their family. A symbol that a Sikh Punjabi kid growing up can look up to (literally and figuratively) and know that if he or she perseveres, they can thrive in fields where people who look like them may have not in the past. A symbol that barriers are meant to be broken, not upheld. To me, personally, Satnam is a symbol that I need to keep working harder and eventually I can achieve my dreams — I need people like that to look up to.
The reality of Satnam Singh is that he won’t play in the NBA, and that’s ok. While Satnam is developing his shooting alongside his skills in the post, he doesn’t have the touch required that is understandably missing from his game considering how he’s played basketball for only a relatively few years. As the NBA D-League continues to become a more financially viable league for players, Satnam will earn a respectable salary that will put him and his family in a better situation. In addition, Satnam will possibly be able to earn an overseas contract and if he keeps succeeding in his efforts to learn the game, he will be able to be employed by the game of basketball — in India or otherwise — for the foreseeable future. Not bad for a farmer’s son in Punjab, is it?
