When Sim Bhullar signed to a 10-day contract with the Sacramento Kings this week, he became one of the largest players in the history of the NBA. That's not the most remarkable thing about the contract, though — his heritage is.
Dan Devine wrote of this yesterday:
...giving [DeMarcus Cousins] a bit of a breather down the stretch could give [Sacramento Head Coach George] Karl a chance to take a look at Bhullar first-hand, and would give Bhullar the chance to take the next step in his historic journey — from first player of Indian descent to sign a contract, to first player of Indian descent to appear on a regular-season roster, to first player of Indian descent to actually appear in an NBA game.
Bhullar, whose NCAA career at New Mexico State was widely celebrated, entered the 2014 NBA draft but failed to be selected by any teams. The general consensus claims that this was due to two concerns: 1) question over Bhullar's fitness and 2) fear of the chronic injuries that plague the careers of many NBA big men.
At seven feet five inches, it's no wonder Bhullar has been seen as both an asset and a liability. An athlete of his size can change the entire landscape of how a team plays, especially in the NBA. But carrying around a body that size often leads to injuries, both early and often.
Bhullar must have realized this. During his stint in the D-League, Bhullar started working on his conditioning and slimmed down (yes, slimmed down) to a mobile 360 pounds.
How? That's where elitefts comes in. Check out the Prowler in this video from the NBA of Bhullar training:
Header image via instagram.com/nba