Mumbai, Aug 13 (IANS): In two games played by the Sacramento Kings so far in the NBA Summer League currently being played in Las Vegas, India's Princepal Singh took the court for only one minute and 22 seconds.
That one minute 22 seconds of play on Wednesday, though, is quite historical in the larger context of Indian basketball as that made the 20-year-old Princepal from Dera Baba Nanak, Punjab, only the second Indian after Satnam Singh Bhamara to play in the NBA Summer League, the pre-league preparatory event in which NBA teams try new players as they get ready for the upcoming season. All 30 NBA franchises are playing in the Las Vegas Summer League.
Satnam had played for Dallas Mavericks in the 2015 Summer League and represented them in 2017 too.
Princepal, who also represented the Kings in the California Summer League, did not get to play in the Kings' first game in Las Vegas but made his debut -- the brief appearance mentioned above -- in the second game against Washington Wizards.
Though Princepal was happy by getting the chance to play for Sacramento Kings in the Summer League alongside their NBA stars and some upcoming players, this event will be only a two-week affair and the Indian players will have to look for a new contract after that.
"I haven't thought much about that. I will continue my training in Los Angeles. I am thinking more about the Summer League now," he said during a media interaction on Friday.
"Summer league has all NBA players and so it is a great experience to play with them. It is a learning experience."
The NBA Academy India product should get more chances in the Kings' upcoming matches and make it count even though he could not score in his brief appearance. Otherwise, his appearance may end up looking like the PR exercise that it now looks like.
It is learned that Princepal now has an agent in the US and is hoping to get into a G-League team. He had appeared for the G-League Ignite team last season on a one-year contract.
The 20-year-old is hoping to get enough chances in the Summer League and impress some of the people scouting for new talent for G-League teams.