1st Indian NBA player drafted
(CNN)Making it big in basketball had long been a dearly held dream for Satnam Singh.
Making it happen was another matter.
Growing up in a remote village in India’s Punjab province, he was destined to become a farmer — like his father and his father’s father.
But that’s the thing about dreams. With hard work — and, in Singh’s case, a ginormous frame — they sometimes come true.
On Thursday, he became the first basketball player from India to be drafted by an NBA team.
The Dallas Mavericks selected the 7-foot-2-inch, 19-year-old with the 52nd pick in the draft.
He’s not expected to make the team right away, but rather will put in time at the Development League level.
But his arrival is a big moment for India.
For the moment, Singh is little known in his homeland, where cricket is by far the biggest sport and few follow the American National Basketball Association.
But success in the United States could change that — in the same way China’s Yao Ming galvanized interest in basketball in his country.
That’s certainly what the Mavs are counting on.
“We certainly created a legend,” owner Mark Cuban said. “There’s a billion new Mavs fans out there right now.”