Indian American Gokul Natesan became the pride of the community after he was picked up by the Canton Charge
Indian basketball player Amjyot Singh and Indian American Gokul Natesan were selected for the 2017 NBA G-League draft held on Saturday, October 21.
Singh could not get into the draft last year and had gone back to India. However, he returned for the 2017 season and this time got selected as the 103rd pick in the fourth and final round of the draft day by the Oklahoma City Blue.
With his selection to the G-League, Singh has become the second Indian player after Palpreet Singh to be picked up for the G-League. Palpreet got selected last year. Adding to this, he has now become the third Indian ever to be selected by an NBA club after Satnam Singh was drafted by the Dallas Mavericks in 2015.
The next big step ahead for Singh is to pass the physical test. Once he passes that hurdle, Singh will join the Oklahoma City Blue for their training camp roster, though it is not a guarantee that he will play for the team.
Palpreet, who was selected by the Long Island Nets, lasted only for a week as he was released. The Leagues are allowed to release their draft picks at any time.
The 25-year-old Singh hails from Chandigarh. As a forward, the 6-foot-8-inch athlete captained the India team and was the leading scorer at the recently-concluded FIBA Asia Cup in Lebanon.
He was trained at the Ludhiana Basketball Academy in Punjab and played domestically for IOB (Chennai), Punjab Police, and the Delhi Capitals of the UBA League.
Indian American Gokul Natesan became the pride of the community after he was picked up by the Canton Charge, a few picks before Singh.
Natesan, a resident of California, has his roots in Tamil Nadu from where his parents immigrated. He finished 2016-17 season in the All RMAC (Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference) First Team and as the RMAC Academic Player of the Year. He led his team in minutes, scoring (18.5 ppg), and assists (4.1 apg) while leading the Mines (this is confusing) to the NCAA D2 Elite 8 stage for the first time.