Bhullar is the 6th tallest player in NBA history.
By Raif Karerat
WASHINGTON, DC: Sim Bhullar debuted in the closing minutes of the Sacramento King’s 116-111 win over the Minnesota Timberwolves and despite playing only 16.1 seconds, became the first player of Indian descent to feature in the NBA.
A crowd of 16,770 gave Bhullar a standing ovation when he trotted onto the court and lined up on the key.
Even if fans weren’t paying attention to the historic angle of Bhular’s NBA cameo, it would have been difficult to miss the New Mexico State alum’s entrance. The towering center stands 7-foot-5, making him the sixth-tallest player in NBA history.
The Kings signed Bhullar — a two-time Western Athletic Conference tournament MVP who went undrafted — to a deal in August. He had been playing for the King’s D-League farm team, the Reno Bighorns, when Sacramento gave him a 10-day contract last Thursday.
While Bhullar’s parents emigrated from the Indian state of Punjab, he was born and raised in Canada. Appropriately, he made his debut against a team that features a pair of Canadian No. 1 picks in Andrew Wiggins and Anthony Bennett.
Many have compared the hulking center to Yao Ming, who helped the NBA make commercially critical inroads into the Chinese market. Sacramento’s Mumbai-raised owner, Vivek Ranadivé, and the NBA both hope Bhullar can elevate the league’s profile among the 1.5 billion- strong population of India.
In the meantime, Omri Casspi, the first Israeli-born player in the NBA, advised his teammate to savor the moment.
“I told him to enjoy the ride,” Casspi revealed to ESPN. “You got 2 billion Indians looking up to you. Be the best role model you can be and have fun with it.”