Satte pe Satta: After Satnam, Palpreet heads to NBA

Palpreet Singh Brar

Archit Watts

Tribune News Service

Muktsar, February 25

Muktsar cager Palpreet Singh Brar has won the national finals of the ACG-NBA Jump, India’s first national basketball talent search programme. 

The 21-year-old will now attend the NBA Development League (NBA D-League) tryout in the United States in June.

The NBA D-League is the NBA’s official minor league, serving to develop players, coaches, and the other officials. The league features 19 teams in the US and Canada, each of which is affiliated with an NBA parent club.

Hailing from Kauni village, Brar, a former trainee of the Ludhiana Basketball Academy, is already a member of India’s senior national team. The 6’9” cager, weighing 115kg, plays as a centre in the national team. Brar has represented India at the SAFF Games, Lusofonia Games and the Asian Games.

“I will focus on becoming a stronger player now that I am going to compete with some of the best in the world,” said Brar. 

“It is a proud moment for us. Palpreet has been selected for the tryout. He is the lone sportsperson in our family. I am thankful to my friends who advised me to introduce Palpreet to basketball because of his height,” said his father Farjinder Singh. He, however, rued that the state government has done nothing for them. “My son is an international player but the state government has never offered him a job. Even the district administration has not honoured him once. It seems the sports department is not even aware that a village in Muktsar has produced an international basketball player,” he added.

Brar started playing basketball at Gidderbaha  under coach Jagsir Puri. In just two months, he was selected for the Ludhiana Basketball Academy (LBA) where coach S Subramanian honed his skills.

In Satnam’s footsteps

Punjab Basketball Association secretary general Teja Singh Dhaliwal expressed his happiness over Brar’s selection. “It’s a big achievement for Brar. He is the only player from India to get selected for a tryout. Thousands appeared for this programme but Brar was the lucky one. His professional basketball journey started from the LBA where he spent his entire time nursing just one dream — to represent India at the NBA. This is a proud moment for the whole academy as Satta (Satnam) is also a product of the LBA.” Brar is presently posted as a Travelling Ticket Examiner (TTE) with the Railways in Ludhiana.

Courtesy: The Tribune