Satnam is set to play in the Canadian National Basketball League after he was drafted by St John’s Edge on Friday. (PTI/File Photo)
“US te wapis kyun aya? (Why did he come back from the US?)” It’s a query that Satnam Singh Bhamara has become immune to over the last one-and-a-half years. Fortunately, it’s one that is generally directed more towards his father in Ballo Ke. It was Satnam, who back in 2015, had put his nondescript farming village in Punjab on not just the Indian but global map. He’d become the first-ever Indian to be drafted by a NBA team, the Dallas Mavericks, to play in the most prominent basketball league in the world. But less than two years later, 7’2” tall Satnam’s world had shrunk back to its original size, as he returned home with no fanfare this time, and a lot to ponder over his prematurely truncated NBA career.
Though he does leave home occasionally these days, whenever he is putting on the national jersey for the Indian team, most of Satnam’s time is spent in Ballo Ke, running on the village roads, repairing the practice posts left unattended to once he left and training in the local gym. But Satnam may be gone a while again, with the 22-year-old set to play in the 10-team Canadian National Basketball League for the 2018-19 season after he was drafted by St John’s Edge on Friday.
“Ek nave jeevan di shuruat hai (it’s like the start of a new life for me). Apart from attending the national camps and playing for India, I have been at my village since the last one and half years. When I was drafted for the NBA, it was a huge thing for the village,” Satnam tells The Indian Express from his village.
While staying fit was very high on the youngster’s agenda, he also had other responsibilities to tend to. His father had taken loans to support his basketball dreams and it was on him to pay them back. “When I returned, some of the money which I earned through endorsements was also spent on repaying the loan, It was tough mentally. But all this time, I dreamt about playing in league, whichever league it was,” he added.
There’d been a lot of hype around Satnam’s departure for greener pastures last time around with many anointing his draft pick as the turning of the tide for Indian basketball. Satnam never quite got a go with the Mavericks in the big league. Instead he spent most of his two years playing for their second-string team, Texas Legends, in the G-League. But there too, he wasn’t a regular, and averaged 7.1 minutes per game over 27 games averaging 1.5 points and 1.4 rebounds. He was then subsequently let go.
Satnam is under no illusions about the massive difference in terms of quality and calibre between the NBA and the Canadian League, which only came into being as recently as 2011. For that matter, even when you compare it with the G-League, which has 27 teams compared to only 10 in Canada. St John’s Edge is the newest team on the roster, having come in last year. Six of the teams hail from the Atlantic province while the other four are based in Ontario.
The salary cap per team in the Canadian League is $150,000 (for the record the NBA’s cap for the 2018-19 season is $101.9 million per team — and most of the players come from USA’s Division 1 NCAA programme. Satnam though realizes that it’ll be a great chance for him to make a mark once the season kicks-off in November.
“With time, I have matured and gained experience. Interacting with different players in the G-League and even watching them from the sidelines was a great learning. Yes, I would get frustrated sometimes as I would stay on the bench but then it was not in my hands,” he says. Satnam will be departing for the USA later this week and will train in San Francisco ahead of his stint in Canada. He also reveals to presently be in search of a coach and a training base. “I’ve always dreamt of playing in these leagues. And it will also help me stay in shape and in form,” he adds.
There is of course added motivation for the towering hoopster to stay fit these days, ever since he’s become a regular in the Indian team. Over the last year or so, he’s been a key figure for the national team in the FIBA Asia World Cup qualifiers and was part of the team at the CWG, where India failed to reach the medal rounds. In six games of the qualifiers, Satnam has scored 87 points with an average of 14.5 points per game and an average of 7.5 rebounds per game.
While Indians lost to Syria, Lebanon and Jordan in the second stage of the first round in June and July, he was the team’s top-scorer with 18 points in the 76-81 loss against Syria. He then followed it up with 14 points in the 70-114 loss against Jordan. “Playing in a league or even competing for minor sides means you play through the season. I did not want to play in the 3X3 format as it does not suit my game. But competing for the national team has been an important phase in my career. With some players not available, it was good to share the workload. Coach Rajinder Singh has shown a lot of faith in my game,” says Satnam.
Though not quite in the news like he was used to before, Satnam has used his time away from the spotlight and in the national jersey to firm up certain aspects of his game, from finishing in the post to maintaining his shooting technique. He’s also been working on his tactics and technique with mentor and teammate Jagdeep Bains. And a few weeks in Canada will be a great opportunity to showcase his burgeoned skills on a bigger stage.