Satnam Singh is an Indian professional basketball player for the Texas Legends of the NBA G League. He became the first player from India to be drafted into the NBA when the Dallas Mavericks chose him with the 52nd overall pick in the 2015 draft.
Singh was born on December 10, 1995, in Ballo Ke, a village located in the Barnala district of Punjab, India that had a population of only about 800. Both Singh's father, Balbir, and his paternal grandfather were wheat farmers and millers, and the family's house was located four miles from the closest paved road.
As a kid, Satnam was nicknamed “Chottu”, which means,”Little One” or “Small” in English and spent his early childhood in his father’s farm. Incredibly, his father also stands at the same height as him and his grandmother is also part of the same bracket, standing at a height of 6’9’’.
At the recommendation of his father’s friend, to pursue basketball, Satnam was sent to Ludhiana at the age of 10. Surprisingly, he first thought he was going there to play volleyball, and not basketball.
Satnam led Punjab's state youth team to a national championship when he was just 14.
Satnam represented India in the Under-16 FIBA Asian Championships in 2009 and also helped his state side Punjab win the Gold medal at the National Youth Championships in Trichy.
His biggest turning point came at the age of 14 when he was picked for the IMG Reliance tryouts in Delhi, where in 50 students, he was among the 8 chosen ones, to be awarded a fully-funded scholarship to train at the IMG Sports Academy, located in Florida, United States.
In the 2014-15 season, Satnam averaged 9.2 points, 8.4 rebounds and 2.2 blocks per game in under 20 minutes for IMG.
On June 26th 2015, history was created as he became the first Indian player to be drafted in the NBA after he was picked as the 52nd pick by the Dallas Mavericks.
