NBA: Will enroll myself for draft next year, says Princepal Singh

Star Indian basketball player, Princepal Singh has stated that he will enroll himself in the National Basketball Association (NBA) draft next year. The 6-foot-9 forward on Tuesday made history by being part of the Sacramento Kings' squad that went on to win the 2021 NBA Summer League. This made him the first Indian in NBA history to be part of a championship roster at any level of the NBA.

The Kings dominated the championship game against the Boston Celtics, clinching the title with a 100-67 win. The victory also made the Kings the only franchise to win multiple Summer League titles, having previously clinched it in 2014. In the final, the NBA Academy India alumni played the final 4:08 mins of the game and put his name alongside the great Satnam Singh Bhamara, as per NBA.com. During his time on the court, Singh finished with two points - scoring the Kings final bucket which took them to 100, while also pulling down the one rebound. "That was the best part. I wanted to play and score desperately. Bohot badiya tha woh [It was very good]. Every member of our team had scored. So scoring the 100th point was really special." 

Talking about his future NBA plan and playing with big guns there, Punjab-born hoopster explained: "I had a chat with my agent before deciding not to enter the NBA draft. I need more experience and playing minutes before making the jump. Moreover, I was a bit unfit before. Now I am back to prime fitness and I am improving a lot. So I want to play in G-League and summer league then next year I will enroll myself for the draft. I want to prove myself first in these leagues and then go for NBA." Princepal also shed some light on his Olympic dream as he said that the Indian team will surely be present at the showpiece event someday.

"While I was watching the Olympics, I felt if India could play here, it will be great. We will play someday for sure. India should focus on playing abroad. They need exposure trips to play against the best. Right now, the players play only in India. We should try going to China or Australia to play against their national teams so that we get to improve. The current coach is doing great in training and we are improving. He almost trains the way, we train in India," the 20-year-old suggested.