Sacramento Kings defeated the Boston Celtics 100-67 in a huge blowout win to win their second-ever Summer League Championship. With this win Princepal Singh, part of the Kings roster, just became the first-ever Indian to win any kind of NBA hardware.
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In the history of the NBA, there have been hundreds and thousands of players who aren’t from the United States of America. In today’s day and age, the game has become more worldwide than before, resulting in more foreign players in the league. However, despite having 1.3 billion people in their country, no Indian has ever really graced the NBA hardwood.
There have been a few who came close – Satnam Singh and Sim Bhullar (Indian origin Canadian). However, no one is or was quite as close to making history for India as the 20-year-old youngster Princepal Singh.
Princepal Singh is the first legitimate hope for Indians to see an Indian in the league. And on Tuesday night, the 6-foot-9 big man just created history by becoming the first-ever Indian to win any kind of an NBA trophy. Singh was a part of the Sacramento Kings roster playing in the Summer League. After going undefeated in their first 4 games, they even managed to blow-out the Boston Celtics 100-67 in the Championship Game.
NBA Twitter erupts after Princepal Singh makes history as being the first Indian ever to lift an NBA hardware
Princepal has really come a long way. Back in 2017, as a young 16-year-old, Singh joined the only NBA Academy in India. He then managed to transition into the NBA Global Academy the very next year. And the past year, he became the first-ever NBA Academy graduate to sign with the G-League team Ignite, alongside lottery picks Jalen Green and Jonathan Kuminga. And now, became the only Indian to lift any kind of NBA trophy after dropping 2 points and 1 rebound in the 4:08 minutes of action he saw against the Celtics, helping his team win the Summer League Championship.
2 points and 1 rebound might not actually seem like a lot. But for a promising player like Princepal, who is carrying the hope of an NBA dream of an entire nation, it does seem like a huge step in the right direction. Rightfully, NBA Twitter was lauding this youngster after this monumental feat.
Will Princepal Singh finally be the first Indian to play for an NBA team? Well, for now, all fans can do is eagerly wait and hope to see this young man make the league soon.
