Kings’ Sim Bhullar becomes first player of Indian descent to play in NBA
With 16.1 seconds remaining in Tuesday night’s game against the Minnesota Timberwolves, George Karl went to the end of his bench and summoned Sim Bhullar, the 7-foot-5, 350-plus-pound center that the Kings recently called up from their D-League affiliate to finish out the season. With that quick trip to the scorer’s table, an inbounds pass after a made free throw, and a few seconds of garbage-time play in a 116-111 Kings win, Bhullar made NBA history, becoming the first player of Indian descent ever to play in an NBA game.
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It wasn’t exactly an action-packed debut — the “highlight reel” of Bhullar’s premiere consists of a sarcastic six-second Vine — but every career’s got to start somewhere. The 22-year-old Bhullar — who was born and raised in Toronto, but whose parents come from the state of Punjab — recognizes that he’s a long way away from establishing himself in the big leagues, but he still cherished the moment and said he hopes his presence in the NBA can “help grow the game in India,” according to the Times of India:
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“It was a great feeling and I’m happy to be kind of an ambassador. This is just the beginning. I really think today was the moment, the big moment for me. There is a lot more to go and hopefully I get another chance like that soon,” he said.
“Hopefully more kids growing up will see there’s a player of Indian descent on the court and hopefully they can follow the game a bit more and grow passion for it to pursue it in future and we can get a couple more Indian NBA players,” he added.
Bhullar’s status as a “non-resident Indian,” a designation that carries a stigma among many native Indians, introduces some complicated questions about positioning, appropriation, marketing and hypocrisy; Do yourself a favor and read Amar’s piece on this over at SLC Dunk. The gap between “of Indian descent” and “Indian” has also led some observers to suggest the importance of Bhullar’s NBA call-up among Indian fans has been overstated; some young Sacramento-area Sikhs seem to disagree, calling Bhullar’s presence “very historic” and “an inspiration.”
While the larger cultural meaning of Bhullar’s rise will likely remain a subject for debate for quite a while, in the here and now, the mammoth New Mexico State product finds himself in the somewhat awkward position of representing something much larger than himself while serving as a bit-part player trying to earn more opportunities on a team playing out the string. It seems like a difficult spot to be in, but Bhullar’s teammate, Omri Casspi — who knows a bit about life in the fishbowl, as the first Israeli-born player in league history — is advising him to just appreciate this chance for what it’s worth.
“I told him to enjoy the ride,” Casspi said after Tuesday’s win, according to Michael Wagaman of The Associated Press. “You got 2 billion Indians looking up to you. Be the best role model you can be and have fun with it.”
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Dan Devine is an editor for Ball Don’t Lie on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter!
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