Hoopdarshan Episode 70: Palpreet Singh Brar on his G-League journey, BFI suspension, and more

It's Diwali season, and Hoopdarshan has brought the fireworks. In Episode 70 of the podcast, we feature special guest Palpreet Singh Brar, the first Indian to be drafted directly by the NBA G-League, an important member of the Indian national team, and the man embroiled around a controversy that got him suspended from Indian basketball this year. Brar bares his all, giving his side of the story, and providing more details of his incredible journey. Additionally, co-hosts Kaushik Lakshman and Karan Madhok catch up on other news in Indian basketball and the NBA.

Brar is from originally from Punjab's Sri Mukhtar Sahib district, and like many other Punjabi basketball prodigies, got his basketball training under the legendary late Dr. Subramanian of the Ludhiana Basketball Academy. After impressing for India's junior levels and national team, he won the NBA's ACG Jump Challenge in 2016 and went to train for the NBA's G-League. The same year, he became the first Indian to be drafted into the G-League by the Long Island Nets, before he was cut from the team. Brar has since been a regular for India's national team in important FIBA tournaments, played in the now-defunct UBA league, and in 3x3 competitions. Last year, Palpreet was handed a controversial 1-year ban by the Basketball Federation of India.



Hoopdarshan is the truest 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.

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How the G-League has become a stepping stone for India’s NBA dreams

This article was first published in my 'Hoopistani' column on The Times of India Sports on November 4, 2017. Read the original version here.

Amjyot Singh is used to being a centrepiece on the basketball court. For the past six years, the 25-year-old, 6-foot-8 power forward has never played for a basketball team where he hasn’t featured in a leading role. He has been India’s leading scorer for half a decade of international competitions, starred at the domestic level for IOB (Chennai), Punjab Police, and the UBA League’s Delhi Capitals, and even when playing professionally abroad, has been a game-changer for successful teams in the Summer and Development Leagues in Japan.

But on a Friday night in Oklahoma City, deep in the Great Plains of central United States, Amjyot was sidelined. He sat on the bench through the whole game as the Oklahoma City Blue—the NBA G-League team that had drafted him two weeks earlier—secured a tense comeback victory over the Rio Grande Valley Vipers. It was the first time since he was a wide-eyed teenager in Chandigarh that he wasn’t an important contributor to his squad.

And yet, he would count it as one of the greatest days of his life.

Just two days before the game, Amjyot had secured his place in the final roster of the Blue, ensuring a contract with the team and suiting up in the team’s blue-and-white jersey. The day before the game, Amjyot posed proudly in his new ‘Singh 13’ jersey.

On his nonguaranteed contract, his future is blurry. He could be cut in the chance of an injury, of another prospect, or a player sent down from the Blue’s NBA’s affiliate, the Oklahoma City Thunder. He is likely to be the last man off the bench on the Blue’s roster until he proves his worth. But even in these uncertain times, the G-League possibility has shown him a path forward to his dreams that international prospects like him couldn’t even have envisioned several years ago.

The NBA, the world’s finest basketball association, launched their official Development League in 2001 with just eight teams, but with the ambition for it to eventually become into a true minor league ‘farm’ system to develop talent. Over the past decade and a half, this minor league has grown rapidly. Now, the recently renamed ‘G-League’ has 26 teams, each with a one-to-one affiliation with an NBA franchise. Over the past four years, around 15 percent of G-League players have received “call-ups” to play in the NBA.

The NBA remains every basketball player’s ultimate destination, the finest level of the game with promise of legacy, competition, fame, and money. But only the rarest of the rare cases make it to this stage.

Most other hoop dreamers around the world have to settle for other options. Players in North America have had a competitive NCAA college basketball circuit and other minor leagues. Professional leagues around the world—from Europe to China to Australia—have been alternative tickets to basketball success for so many others while they kept their NBA ambitions alive.

But the expanded presence of the G-League has helped create the most direct secondary option for players who are on the cusp of an NBA roster, who need to refine and retool their games enough to make those dreams come true. Additionally, it has become an option for NBA teams to stack their assets, to oversee young, raw players develop into future potential contributors.

Two and a half years ago, Punjab-born seven-footer Satnam Singh made history when he became the first Indian to be drafted into the NBA. Satnam was picked by the Dallas Mavericks, who immediately placed him in their minor league affiliate squad Texas Legends. Satnam played for the Legends for two years, earning bit minutes off the bench and never impressing enough to warrant an NBA call-up. Last month, he announced that he would be leaving the G-League behind to continue his basketball journey back home in India.

Last year, Palpreet Singh, another Punjabi big man, was drafted into the G-League by the Long Island Nets, but he never made the team’s final roster after training camp.

When he was drafted with the 103rd pick of the 2017 draft (the 25th pick of the fourth and final round) by the Blue, Amjyot became the third Indian citizen in a space of three years to begin an affair with the G-League.

Amjyot is the eldest, most-experienced, and most talented of the three, but still no closer to playing in the NBA itself. No Indian has yet made an NBA debut. The rise of the G-League, however, has suddenly opened new doors for Indian prospects. Realistically, his path to the NBA is still highly improbable; but thanks to the G-League, players like him can begin to envision the path for the first time.

As the league’s profile continues to rise, watch for many more Indians to follow on Satnam, Palpreet, and Amjyot’s footsteps in the near future. One of those players will eventually become a centrepiece for their team, become a G-League star, and make the next big leap and become the first Indian in the NBA.

Indian basketball player Palpreet Singh (22) drafted to the NBA D-League by the Long Island Nets

During the NBA D-League's All Star Game - the 'D' stands for 'Development' - there used to be an event showcased as the 'Dream Factory', which includes a series of basketball skills competitions. 'Dream Factory' is a catchy, positive name for the event, but it also represents the larger aspirations of the D-League: it serves as an important rung in the ladder for basketball players to realise their higher goals, the NBA, the ultimate dream.

On Sunday, October 30th, over 180 aspirants entered the D-League's draft to climb up to that important rung in fulfilling their dream. The Erie BayHawks picked first, selecting Anthony Brown as the first new entrant into the Dream Factory. And for the next few hours, over a course of six rounds, a total of 22 teams drafted the rights to many more players.

But this year's D-League draft was extra special, because first for the first time, it had Indian representation. Three international Indian talents, all bigs in their early 20s from Punjab - Amjyot Singh, Amritpal Singh, and Palpreet Singh - had signed eligibility contracts for the draft. By the end of the night, Palpreet Singh, the youngest of the trio with the most exposure to D-League squads over recent months, was the only one drafted.

Palpreet Singh Brar, a 6-foot-9 power forward born in a village in south western Punjab, was picked 11th in the sixth round of the NBA D-League draft (80th overall) by the Long Island Nets, an affiliate of the NBA's Brooklyn Nets. Palpreet thus became the first Indian to ever be drafted into the NBA D-League. The selection paid off six months of concentrated efforts by NBA India and Palpreet to get in shape for the draft, succeed in the D-League open tryouts, and work with teams in individual workouts. Now that he has been drafted, Palpreet will be part of the Long Island Nets training squad from which 10 players will be picked for the final squad.

The D-League already features another Indian, Satnam Singh, who last summer made history by becoming the first Indian to be drafted into the NBA (Dallas Mavericks) and has since been stashed into the D-League's Texas Legends.

"I am happy with the efforts I have put in and I will continue to work hard with Long Island Nets as this is just the beginning," Palpreet said, quoted earlier today by the Indian Express.

Born in the village of Doda in Sri Muktsar Sahib district, Palpreet was introduced to the game by his father when he was 16. His raw talent and potential carried him over to Ludhiana, the city, which has become Punjab and India’s model basketball nursery, where he was briefly roommates with Satnam. Palpreet’s big international breakthrough came with India’s junior squad at the 2012 FIBA U18 Asia Championship in Mongolia. Over the next three years, he played for India’s senior team and secured a backup spot behind our current superstar Punjabi frontcourt of Amjyot Singh and Amrit Pal Singh. He was part of the Indian squad that defeated China at the 2014 FIBA Asia Cup.

The biggest break of his young career when he won the first-ever ACG-NBA Jump Programme. The programme was a first-of-its-kind talent search programme to find the best young basketball player in India. After scouring through multiple cities over several months, ACG-NBA Jump held a final with 32 of the best players in Greater Noida, from whom Palpreet shined brightest and emerged as national champ. With his victory, he won an opportunity to be trained by NBA level coaches and participate in the 2016 NBA Development League tryouts. After being picked, Brar underwent a 45-day rigorous camp in Kerala to build up his fitness, agility and strength to NBA standards, before heading to the USA to continue his workouts and impress at the D-League tryouts.

Palpreet comes from a humble, farming background. His father, Phirjinder Singh Brar, shared his joy with The Tribune earlier. "I got a phone call around 2 am on Monday that Palpreet was picked by the Long Islands Net in the NBA D-League. This is the best Diwali gift to us and a proud moment for the family of farmers." He is currently posted as a travelling ticket examiner (TTE) with the Railways in Ludhiana.

The Long Island Nets acquired the draft rights of five players, including Palpreet, on Sunday.

While it was a great day for Palpreet, his fellow Ludhiana Basketball Academy (LBA) alums Amjyot Singh (24) and Amritpal Singh (25) didn't share his luck. Neither of the two big men - two of India's finest players - were picked on Sunday afternoon, despite being superstars on the Asian stage and playing at a high level last year in Japan's D-League. Unlike Palpreet, who was given the resources to prepare for the draft and gained recognition with the D-League teams over the last few months, Amjyot and Amritpal were busy with the Indian national team and were relatively unknown to the D-League. Despite having a bigger impact back home, their older age and the mystery behind their games may have forced several teams to pass them over.

Still, it's not all gloom and doom for the duo. Amjyot and Amritpal will surely have gained a lot from this exposure at the D-League draft as now, at least, their names are being mentioned as potential free agents. For now, they will be hoping to work out with some teams and possibly earn free agent contracts. For the future, they can take heed from Palpreet's success and realize that a few months of concentrated hard work could prepare them for the D-League stage, too.

Meanwhile, Palpreet will hope to fight for his place at the Nets' training camp and hopefully gain a roster spot before the new D-League season begins. If he makes it, he will join Satnam Singh as the second Indian in the league. We are hoping that both of them can continue to impress so that, soon, the 'Dream Factory' turns their NBA fantasies into a reality!