Driving Naari Programme launched in Chandigarh
Muktsar, Hailing from the remote village of Kothe Surgapuri in Gidderbaha subdivision, 22-year-old Palpreet Singh Brar has become the first Indian cager to be drafted directly into the National Basketball Association (NBA) D-League. He has been picked by the Long Island Nets, New York.
The towering cager (6 feet, 9 inches), who plays centre position, is the second India-born basketball player to have reached this platform. Satnam Singh ‘Satta’ (7 feet, 2 inches) from Ballo Ke village in Barnala was signed for the Dallas Mavericks last year.
During the first round of trials, Palpreet was among 182 shortlisted along with Amjyot Singh Gill and Amrit Mann, who play in the Japan professional league. Palpreet made it in the fourth round, being selected at number 11.
D-League is NBA’s official minor league, serving to nurture players and coaches. It features 19 teams in the US and Canada, each affiliated with an NBA parent club.
“I received a phone call at 2 am that Palpreet had been picked by the Long Island Nets. This has been the best Diwali gift ever for the family,” said an upbeat Phirjinder Singh Brar, Palpreet’s father.
An elated Teja Singh Dhaliwal, senior vice-president, Basketball Federation of India (BFI), said: “Palpreet will serve as a lighthouse to other basketball players.”
Palpreet, a former trainee with the Ludhiana Basketball Academy (LBA), was introduced to the game when he was 16. His father, a local-level volleyball player during his youth, gave the credit for his son’s success to former LBA coach S Subramanian as well as Gamdoor Singh, a former policeman, and Nippy Sra of Malout for “motivating Palpreet to take to the sport”.
Palpreet, a ticket examiner with Railways, won the national finals of ACG-NBA Jump, India’s first national talent search programme. Thereafter, he attended the NBA D-League tryouts in the US.
