They call him Chhotu! 5 things to know about 7'2" Dallas Mavericks NBA draft pick Satnam Singh

India makes history as a small town boy from Ballo Ke village in Punjab, 19-year-old Satnam Singh Bhamara, became the first Indian to be drafted by the NBA’s Dallas Mavericks. Here are five things to know about him:

India’s Yao Ming?

The comparisons are inevitable but perhaps not exactly deserved… yet. China’s Yao Ming stands at seven feet and six inches to Satnam Singh’s seven foot two inches and he was an established star even before he came to the NBA. He was the third Chinese player to make it into the NBA, but the first to make it big in the league. He dominated the Chinese Basketball Association (averaging a 32.4 points per game in his final season with the Shanghai Sharks) and was the first player picked in the 2002 NBA draft unlike Satnam, who was the 52nd draft pick. And he also went on to become an eight-time NBA All-Star. His rise to fame in the NBA league directly correlated with a massive increase in the basketball’s popularity in China—  according to sports journalist Renjun Bao , NBA viewership in China reportedly rose during Yao’s ten-year career from 5% to more than 20% of the population and NBA hopes Satnam will do the same for basketball in India.

Humble beginnings

Singh is from Ballo Ke, a village of about 800 in the Indian state of Punjab. He moved to the United States in September of 2010 as part of a scholarship program between IMG Academy and Reliance. There were no basketball courts in his village in Punjab and  his dad’s wheat farm is about 6 kms from the nearest paved road . When he landed in the States he spoke no English , but now he can hold proper conversations.

“First time I saw him play, he was wearing shoes that were falling apart. The seams had split, and he was coming right out of them,” Troy Justice, the NBA Director of Basketball Operations in India said. “That’s all he had. He was growing so fast. We helped him get shoes. I’ve heard people talk, but we’re not sure they know how big he’ll get.”

He comes from a tall family 

Satnam Singh is 7'2 and 290 pounds. He was 7 feet tall when he was 14. His father, Balbir Singh Bhamara, is 7'2. His grandmother on his father’s side is 6'9. He wears size 22 shoes and is still growing at 19 years of age.  “My father wanted to play basketball, but my grandfather insisted he could not. They were a family of farmers. He had fields to tend,” Satnam said. “He never got the chance that I am getting now. He is very proud of me, and I want to play this game as well as I can play. That is my task now, he said in a 2010 interview with AOL .

Nicknamed ‘chhotu’ by his family

While growing up in Punjab his parents gave him the nickname “Chhotu” or “the tiny one”.

He was voted as the homecoming king

Satnam Singh was selected as one of the many students to spend three months at the IMG Academy in Florida, but once he got to Florida, they didn’t want to send him back to India. At the time, he didn’t really speak English. But from his facebook profile you can see that he popular among his classmates and was elected homecoming king.

He tried out for Washington Wizards, Sacramento Kings and Boston Celtics before being selected by the Dallas Mavericks

Satnam Singh was not academically gifted and didn’t get any scholarship offers so instead of playing at the college level he decided to go straight to the NBA draft. His gamble paid off. But he’s still far from ready for the NBA.

As pointed out by SB Nation , “Singh has never played basketball on any level even close to resembling the NBA. He’s played high school basketball for four years and prep school basketball for one. He was injured for some of those years. He needs to play more basketball.”

Singh’s coaches told SI that they think he has a lot of work ahead of him, and in three or four years he will be primed for NBA:

“This is the best route for him to begin peaking at 22 or 23 years old,” said Dan Barto, IMG Academy’s head skills trainer who will be working Singh out. “He can now focus 24 hours a day and seven days a week on competing with players his size along with expert coaching daily.”

For now he will play in the D-league in Frisco.