Sim Bhullar beats the buzzer for sixteen seconds of fame

The 7'5" Canadian became the first player of Indian origin to compete in the marquee tournament.

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Sim Bhullar didn’t make a shot even as Kings beat Timberwolves 116-111. (Source: USA Today Sports)

The Sacramento Kings’ bench was on their feet with just a minute of play left. They were accompanied by a majority of the near 17,000 fans at the Sleep Train Arena, ready to celebrate the home team’s first win in six NBA games. The tallest of the lot however, Sim Bhullar was on his feet for different reasons.

Kings were leading the Minnesota Timberwolves by seven points with just 16 seconds left. The game was already won, with the visitors needing seven points. The moment was deemed right by coach George Karl to throw in the 22-year-old for his ‘debut’ in a competitive NBA game. Subsequently, the 7’5″ Canadian became the first player of Indian origin to compete in the marquee tournament.

The dream debut barely lasted long enough for a single play – 16 seconds to the hooter. There wasn’t much time for the youngster to attempt any of the coveted colossal blocks his 8’2″ wingspan allows. In fact, the only contact Bhullar got to make with the ball was when he took a throw-in after the Timberwolves pulled two points back, with just six seconds left.

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At the sound of the buzzer, nonetheless, the Kings’ cheer was coupled by congratulations offered to the debutant. The victors’ top scorers on the night, Rudy Gay and Omri Casspi were among the first that approached Bhullar.

“I told him to enjoy the ride,” his teammate, Omri Casspi, who scored a career high 31 points, said. “You got 2 billion Indians looking up to you. Be the best role model you can be and have fun with it.” Casspi was the first Israeli-born player in the NBA, so he certainly had a unique perspective on the moment.

Sixteen seconds of play after watching two whole games from the bench is what his overall game time record stands at so far. The 10-day contract that Bhullar has been playing under gives him the opportunity to feature in two more games. The next being the return tie against the Utah Jazz early on Thursday morning.

Now that he has had a chance to actually step on court, albeit for a quarter of a minute the towering centre will be searching for a better opportunity to play.

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For the moment though, Bhullar basked in his achievement. “It was a great feeling and I’m happy to be kind of an ambassador. This is just the beginning. I really think today was the moment, the big moment for me. There is a lot more to go and hopefully I get another chance like that soon,” he said.

“Hopefully more kids growing up will see there’s a player of Indian descent on the court and hopefully they can follow the game a bit more and grow passion for it to pursue it in future and we can get a couple more Indian NBA player,” Bhullar added.