Meet Princepal Singh, the young Indian making waves in the NBA
- Aug 19, 2021,
- Updated Aug 19, 2021, 10:30 PM IST
GUWAHATI: Young cager Princepal Singh became the first Indian to be part of an NBA title-winning team when his side Sacramento Kings clinched the 2021 NBA Summer League crown.
The forward made history by being the first Indian to be part of a championship roster at any level of the NBA. Singh plays for the NBA G League Ignite of the NBA G League.
After winning the trophy, Singh said that he felt that "he was in a dream."
The Kings dominated the championship game against the Boston Celtics, clinching the title with a 100-67 win on Tuesday.
The win also made the Kings the only franchise to win multiple Summer League titles, having previously clinched it in 2014, according to the NBA.
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In the final, Princepal Singh played the last 4:08 minutes of the game and put his name alongside Satnam Singh Bhamara.
Princepal Singh finished with two points by scoring the Kings final bucket which took them to 100, while also pulling down one rebound.
The 20-year-old’s appearance in the championship game comes exactly a week after he made his brief yet landmark debut at the Summer League.
Princepal Singh is 6 feet 9 inches tall, and is aged 20 years.
Singh is a native of Dera Baba Nanak, Punjab, India and grew up playing volleyball. In 2014, he travelled to Ludhiana to try out for a volleyball academy but instead drew the attention of Jaipal Singh, a coach at the Ludhiana Basketball Academy (LBA).
Singh trained at the NBA Academy India in New Delhi for 18 months, before being called up to the NBA Global Academy, a training center at the Australian Institute of Sport Centre of Excellence in Canberra, in May 2017.
It is worth noting that Singh helped Punjab capture a gold medal in the under-21 category of the Khelo India Youth Games in January 2020. He is surely a talent to watch out for!