Satnam's story of reaching IMG's basketball academy in Florida in 2010 would not have been complete without his late coach.
India's Satnam Singh Bhamara may have been drafted into the NBA but the man who was instrumental in bringing this 7-feet-2-inch tall Punjab hoopster to this level is not alive to see this day.
Dr Sankaran Subramanian, who groomed India's first NBA recruit from Barnala district at the Ludhiana Basketball Academy (LBA) since 2003, is the one 19-year-old Satnam fondly remembers and credits with his success.
Satnam's story of reaching IMG's basketball academy in Florida in 2010 would not have been complete without his late coach. One of the finest Indian basketball minds of all time, Subramanian passed away in May 2013 following a heart ailment.
He dedicated his life's precious 43 years imparting coaching to young hoopsters in India but could not hang around long enough to see one of his two wishes come true – to get the Dronacharya Award and to see his trainee Satnam play in the NBA.
Subramanian's long contribution, somehow, has always been ignored by everyone including sports ministry despite Basketball Federation of India's (BFI) efforts of sending his nomination for the Dronacharya award to the ministry for straight seven years till 2014.
However, the scenario has completely changed after Satnam's recent success. Punjab Basketball Association (PBA) has now decided to forward Subramanian's name for the prestigious award, though posthumously. Dronacharya award has never been conferred to any coach posthumously since its inception in 1985. This is another matter that not once has a basketball coach come close to getting this honour till date.
"We applied for Subramanian's name to be nominated for the award several times but his contribution, like other Indian basketball coaches, was never considered enough for Dronacharya award. The award committee would always argue that they select coaches who are part of the individual events, not the team games like basketball," former BFI president and current PBA president RS Gill said. "Because of this argument, the people associated with games like basketball have suffered a lot. Though there is no provision as such in the award rule book."
It has been reliably learnt that a consensus was built around Subramanian's name last year when former Indian hockey captain Ajit Pal Singh headed the Dronacharya Award committee. But, a few committee members were divided over bestowing the honour posthumously. "I thought that Satnam's success at the international level might change hearts of the committee members this time around. What Subramanian couldn't get in his lifetime, may be, he can get the award posthumously," added the PBA president.
The deadline to apply for the award is over, but the sports ministry has in the past accepted late entries. And, keeping in mind that "nowhere in the rule book is it stated that the award can't be given to a person posthumously", one can hope that Subramanian's contribution to Indian basketball will finally be recognised by the government.
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