How ‘macro’ Sim Bhullar is fitting in
For 25 years, Sim Bhullar’s father, Avtar, drove a taxi around Toronto to put food on the family table. It’s only in recent years when chatter of NBA started looming large on his legend that the 7’5” hoopster found the ultimate comfort. The son of a Canadian cabbie who this summer became the first NBA player of Indian descent, now sleeps in a California King Bed, 7”6’ in length by five feet.
His parents had moved to Canada from their native in Punjab before the 22-year-old was born. True to his roots, Bhullar grew up fitting the role of a stereotypical Punjabi — a foodie. But here in Mumbai, as he prepares to revisit the North Indian state, his commitment to basketball and its exacting fitness standards has him eschew the cream, lassi and paneer and opt instead for a diet of boiled chicken and grilled fish.
“I need to cut down on the weight and start looking like an NBA player. I need to eat healthy now on,” he says on his first visit to India after debuting in NBA.
Ironically, when the youngster walked out of the Arrivals lounge of the Mumbai airport, a set of people waiting for their travelling relatives began discussing what kind of food one would have to eat to match Bhullar’s largeness.
Jaws dropped as eyes followed the youngster’s every move. So much so that some incoming travellers had to frantically wave and shout to recapture the attention of their family that came to receive them. Some even had to chase their receivers who started following the cager walking toward the hired minibus. The large vehicle was deemed big enough to comfortably seat the giant guest. Funnily enough, selecting the 15-seater Toyota HiAce took his hosts a few weeks.
“He flies business-class or sits at the exit seats. But for travel within the city, we had to find a vehicle big enough to let him stretch his legs,” says Akash Jain, vice-president of business development, NBA India. The other main logistical concern falls on the hotels.
Jain adds that the organisers request hotels to provide the guest with high-ceiling rooms and larger beds. The Taj Lands End hotel in Mumbai, where Bhullar will stay while in the city, has a majority of its rooms with beds and shower vestibules comfortable for guests as tall as 6”5’. “We do have bed extensions for taller guests, as well as higher shower heads. So the only problem is that he will have to bend when entering the room or the restroom since the doorways are seven feet high,” explains Essa Bookwala, duty manager of the hotel.
The provisions have been made available to accommodate the increase in taller NBA stars such as Vlade Divac, Peja Stojakovic and Chris Bosh, who have visited the city in the past. Bhullar is the latest, and tallest edition to that list, given his 10-day contract with the Sacramento Kings.
Despite the short-term deal, Bhullar asserts he fulfilled the role his coaches gave him. “In the NBA, you need to prove that this is where you want to be. You need to work according to that mentality. Ever since the summer-league last year, the coaches have seen how much my body has changed and they’re happy with it,” says the 163 kg centre, who managed to play a total of 2:40 minutes during the 10 days. In that time, he did manage to open his scoring account, through a hookshot against the Utah Jazz.
“Seeing the ball go through the basket was a weight off my shoulders,” he adds.
The upcoming summer league will be the next time Bhullar will be in action for the Kings. By then his name, he hopes, would be more recognisable.
