India's Amrit Pal Singh and Amjyot Singh signed by Tokyo Excellence of Japan's Basketball D-League

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Amrit Pal Singh and Amjyot Singh have been tethered together for years. The two big men share a common state of origin (Punjab), a common family name (Singh), a common front-court in India's Men's Senior National Basketball team, and even common controversies. Earlier this year, Amrit Pal and Amjyot - starters for India's NT and two of the best basketball players that the nation has to offer - took their talents overseas to play together, in the same team, in Japan's BJ Summer League.

And now, still tethered together, Amrit Pal Singh (7-foot) and Amjyot Singh (6-foot-9) - both 23 - have taken another step towards making history. After impressive performances for Hyogo Impulse of the BJ Summer League from June to August 2015, the two bigs are heading off to a bigger city and a bigger league. The two Indian players have been signed on one-year contracts by Tokyo Excellence of the Japan's National Basketball Development League (NBDL). The NBDL was established in 2013 as a second-tier league below Japan's National Basketball League.

Tokyo Excellence has been the team with the best record in NBDL’s brief history, having won both the 2013-14 and 2014-15 championships. The team has active participation in hometown activities and events, including visits to schools and mentoring young basketball teams.

The period of their contracts is from 1st September 2015 to 31st March 2016. Expressing their happiness over the new opportunity, Amjyot and Amrit Pal said that they felt blessed and will look to do their best to make India proud.

The young cagers have been mainstays of the Indian Men’s National Team over the past two years, leading them to the historic, first ever victory over China in 2014 during the 5th FIBA Asia Cup held in Wuhan, China. Having learnt the fundamentals of the game at Ludhiana Basketball Academy under late Coach Dr. S. Subramaniam, the duo quickly developed their game and became vital to the Indian National Team’s success.

This significant move has been made possible by the behind-the-scenes effort put in by their managers, Rohit Bakshi (from YounGuns) and DIME Initiatives, along with well-respected Internationally Certified FIBA Agent Toshi Koga of Japan. “I’m just so happy that these kids are making India proud in Japan," Bakshi said, "These kids were trained in India and are showcasing their training at a high level. The Indian basketball fraternity needs to support them and help them get further by all means!”

Search 'Indian basketball player' internationally and the hype and results will likely point you to one name: Satnam Singh Bhamara, the first Indian citizen to be drafted into the NBA. But, while the 19-year-old Punjabi giant attempts to wade his way into America (and the world's) best basketball league through their Development League system, a couple of other Punjabi giants out of India are well on their way to scripting respectable professional careers for themselves internationally.

Even though they start this new professional chapter of their careers next week, Amrit Pal and Amjyot won't be deserting their national team responsibilites anytime soon. They have already discussed with their new club that they will be available to lead Team India's campaign at the 2015 FIBA Asia Championship - the biggest tournament that India's national team participates in - from September 23 to October 3 in Changsha, China. Althoug they were unavailable for India's practice and qualification for this tournament, their return will be a big boost for the team's campaign in China next month.

This is fantastic news for Amrit Pal and Amjyot, who are entering uncharted territory for Indian basketball players. India doesn't have its own full-time professional basketball league, and the players are right in their decision to make the most of their talents at a professional level whenever such an opportunity arises. Hopefully, they can continue rising up the ranks of Japanese basketball and their performances at the D-League earn them an opportunity with Japan's National Basketball League, too.

And hopefully, the inseparable superstars can continue on the path to success as they always have: together.

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Hoopdarshan Episode 13: The Making of Indian basketball's finest, Amjyot Singh

One of India's most talented basketball players, 22-year-old Chandigarh boy Amjyot Singh's skills made him a regular starter for India's national team, gave him a pivotal role in India's historic win over China last year, and brought him a pro contract to play in Japan. In Episode 13 of Hoopdarshan - the first podcast on Indian Basketball - Amjyot joins hosts Kaushik Lakshman and Karan Madhok in a candid conversation about his starring role for Team India, his experiences playing in Japan, facing FIBA's 'No Headgear' policy as a Sikh player, and listening to romantic slow jams before big games.

First promoted to India's Senior Men's team in 2011, 6-foot-9 Amjyot has played a huge role for India at every major international tournament since, including the 2011 and 2013 FIBA Asia Championships, the 2012 Stankovic Cup (where he was captain), and the 2014 FIBA Asia Cup. Amjyot became one of two first Indian male players to play pro internationally, when he and Amrit Pal Singh joined Hyogo Impulse of Japan's BJ Summer League. Back home in India, he plays for IOB in Chennai. He was named one of the 2015 FIBA Asia Championship players to watch by FIBA, and he spoke to us on the podcast about his growing role for India, his ambitions to become one of the best in Asia, and going head-to-head with India's NBA draftee, Satnam Singh.



Hoopdarshan aims to be the true voice of Indian basketball, and since we're such hopeless fans of the game, it will become the voice of everything basketball related we love, from the NBA to international hoops, too. On every episode of Hoopdarshan, we will be inviting a special guest to interview or chat to about a variety of topics. With expert insight from some of the brightest and most-involved people in the world of Indian basketball, we hope to bring this conversation to a many more interested fans, players, and followers of the game.

Make sure to follow Hoopdarshan on Soundcloud or search for 'Hoopdarshan' on the iTunes Store! Auto-sync Hoopdarshan to your preferred podcast app NOW!

Hoopdarshan can be found on...

• - iTunes: Hoopdarshan 
• - Hoopdarshan on Soundcloud 
• - On Twitter: @Hoopdarshan 
• - Facebook.com/Hoopdarshan 

India's Amjyot Singh and Amrit Pal Singh head out to Japan to play in professional basketball Summer League

A year ago, India's basketball team shocked China on their home soil at the FIBA Asia Cup in Wuhan. The chief architects of India's victory - and their entire successful campaign in Wuhan - were the two indomitable big men in the middle from Punjab: Amrit Pal Singh and Amjyot Singh. Amrit Pal and Amjyot - both 23 - have been India's breakout stars in recent years and are the two pillars around whom rest the future hopes of Indian basketball.

But despite developing into two of the top young players in all of Asia, the two Singhs have remained semi-professionals because India still doesn't have a professional basketball league. Instead, like the rest of India's national team players, they play in invitational and federation-organized tournaments all year and spend the rest of their time working in other day jobs. No Indian male players have yet featured in prominent professional leagues abroad; India's veteran women talents Geethu Anna Jose and Anitha Paul Durai have enjoyed professional stints in Australia and Thailand before.

Fortunately, the reward of excellence and hard work might finally be delivered to Amrit Pal and Amjyot: the two big men headed to Japan today to play in the Summer League for the Hyogo Impulse, a team in Japan's BJ Summer League. The two players have signed on to a summer league contract till August 31. If they are able to prove their mettle on court, they may be able to secure a position for the team on their proper regular season rosters and become full professionals in Japan.

If Amrit Pal and Amjyot return to India in September, they will make it back in time to prepare with India for the FIBA Asia Championship in China (if India are cleared to play, of course), which begins on September 23.

I have long believed that Amrit Pal Singh and Amjyot Singh have the talent and potential to play in the top leagues in Asia, and this is a huge opportunity for the two Indian stars to prove that they can be valuable at that level. Unfortunately, however, most top leagues around the world (excluding notably the NBA) have a cap to the number of foreign players they allow per team. This is why most teams choose to fill in the foreign player quota with an exceptional North American or European player and give the rest of the roster spaces to their homegrown talents. Even if Amrit Pal and Amjyot prove to be better than some of the homegrown talents in Japan, it will be tough for the team to choose them over their other foreign imports.

"The idea is to get Indian basketball some notoriety with these two guys, who we know can succeed over there, build trust with Japanese basketball system that India has talent then start pushing other players over there to play professionally," said Himanshu Dabir, who helped out the players secure these contracts in Japan.

Amrit Pal and Amjyot Singh are also the same Sikh players who were at the center of FIBA's "No Headgear" policy controversy at the FIBA Asia Cup last year, when they were asked to remove their turbans before taking part in FIBA-organized basketball games.

Meanwhile, in another part of the world, another Indian Punjabi is hoping to become a professional in a better-known basketball league. India's giant Satnam Singh Bhamara has been working out with various NBA teams in recent weeks and has declared himself for the 2015 NBA Draft which will take place at the end of June. Bhamara hopes to become the first Indian national in the NBA. Hopefully, all three talented bigs will be playing professional basketball internationally by the end of this year and providing some healthy competition for the big man spots for the Indian national squad for years to come.

Note to event organizers in India: the homegrown talent is looking better than ever. It's about time to start our own professional league to harness these talents, keep them home, give them the opportunity and money they deserve, and help the growth and popularity of basketball in India.