Timeout with Sadhish Pradhan - Nepal Men's National Team Captain

Captain, Coach and MVP are the different names that Sadhish Pradhan goes by. The 5-foot-10’ guard has been instrumental to Nepal’s success internationally and continues to inspire a new generation of ball players to take the sport to new heights. The Himalayan country has shown the potential to compete with some of the top teams in Asia with their recent campaign in the South Asian Games, 2019 culminating in a bronze medal. Pradhan and his team put up a powerful performance against Bangladesh to take home the bronze medal not more than a year after losing all their group stage games in the 2021 Asia Cup - SABA Pre-Qualifier 2018 where he proved to be Mr. Dependable, by leading the tournament in scoring (Averaging 16 PPG). Despite losing out on a chance to compete in the FIBA Asia Cup, he is optimistic that the Nepal National Team will be prepared to make a run for Asian glory soon.

Apart from his role as a captain, he also spends his time coaching Nepal’s young talent, having led his team to a U-18 national championship victory earlier this year. It comes as no surprise that Pradhan has also had success in the country’s domestic league, the Nepal Basketball League. He led the Times International Club to a championship, while also bagging the coveted MVP award in the 2019 edition. Join me as I take a timeout with the powerhouse of Nepali Basketball and ask him about basketball culture in the ‘roof of the world.’

From playing basketball informally to becoming captain of Nepal’s National Team and also coaching young talent, can you tell our audience your story and how you made it?

For me basketball was just another sport as I loved to learn and participate in every sport. Probably because sports was in my genes. My father was a national football player himself (Mr. Dhirendra Kumar Pradhan) and like every other kid I wanted to be like my father. My love and passion for basketball started when I was around 13, when one of my closest friends inspired me to play basketball. He is currently an integral part of the Nepal Basketball League, Mr. Namit Bahadur Thapa.

From an early age I was very competitive and somewhat persistent in whatever I did. When I started playing basketball my goal was to continue becoming better until I became the best. During my school years basketball was very popular in Kathmandu. However, the sport only percolated in schools and colleges. I had never heard about the Nepal Basketball Team participating internationally.

Performing and winning in school and college level tournaments were my main goal. Through my teenage years I grew up becoming a fairly decent player. Due to my competitive nature, the best part of my game was defence. My school team (Galaxy Public School, Nepal) was also one of the top ranked schools in academics and sports. We also had a very good basketball team. We used to participate in several basketball tournaments and my passion for basketball kept growing. In my junior years, I didn’t score much, but that changed when my competitive spirit took over during a national tournament where I was the top scorer in one of the games. Seeing my name in the newspaper the next day lit a spark within me and motivated me to take my game to the next level. I started working very hard at both ends of the court. I won a lot of individual accolades and more importantly, my team won lot of tournaments. I started playing club level tournaments as soon as I finished high school and was recognized by basketball stakeholders. In 2005, I heard about selections going on for the national team, however didn’t get the call to join. One of my teammates was selected to play for the national team. I knew I could match, if not beat his level of play. Instead of feeling let down, I used this as motivation to secure a spot on the roster and worked tirelessly towards that goal. The problem was that there was no guarantee that we would field a team again for international participation.

After 4 long years in 2009, basketball was included in the South Asian Games for the first time. My hard work paid off and I earned a spot on the national team after an intense selection process. Words couldn’t explain how proud I was at being able to represent my country at the age of 24. My journey in the national team had officially started. While training for the 11th South Asian Games in a rigorous 6 month training camp, I got the news that I was selected to participated in the 3rd Asian Indoor Games, Vietnam (3x3 event). We had to face some of the best teams in Asia and were able to beat a very good Qatar team which marked my first national team victory. Right after Vietnam, I joined the team for the 11th SAG and came very close to winning bronze, however, lost to the hosts in the third place match. The 11th SAG was one of my best performances for Nepal and I finished the tournament as the leading scorer. This was a real confidence booster and strengthened my resolve to work hard every single day for my country.

Luckily for me, our generation got to participate in many international tournaments. After the retirement of our former captain Mr. Bipendra Maharjan in 2011, I was given the responsibility to lead the team. Besides playing, I also started coaching part-time in 2012 and it helped me learn more about this beautiful game. My coach and mentor Mr. Dinesh Chandra Nakarmi taught me everything about basketball. Every time we join the camp for any international tournaments, we get to learn something new from him which has not only helped me grow as a player and a leader, but also helped me grow as a person. I try to pass all these little details and fundamentals to younger talents who want to learn about basketball and hope to see them take our country to another level from here.

Can you tell me more about Nepal’s basketball culture and the influence that the NBA has on the way the game is played in Nepal?

The way I see it, the NBA has always had a huge impact on basketball in Nepal. When I started playing basketball I remember that we used to watch basketball in CDs. We didn’t have smart phones and could only watch some live games on television. Even then we tried to get as much knowledge as we could about the NBA. I would never miss an opportunity to watch NBA games or documentaries. Basketball players in Nepal try to copy NBA players and idolize them all the time. Now that it’s so much easier to follow the NBA globally, Nepal basketball and its players have evolved, from trying to copy the moves of their favourite NBA players to wearing expensive jerseys, sneakers and socks that their idols wear. Since we don’t have a lot of tall athletes in Nepal, the game revolves around shooting. Steph Curry has been a major influence to young talent.

Speaking about the roots of the game, as far as I can remember, basketball, unlike other sports has been and still is played only in some parts of our country. Kathmandu has the most number of players and forms the majority of our national team. Besides Kathmandu other players from the national team usually live in neighbouring cities. The quality of players also differs a lot if you go outside Kathmandu even though basketball has become popular in some cities in the east and west. I think that the reason for this is because all the players from Nepal only compete once in every two years against each other in the national games which often does not commence on time. Since basketball is a team sport which requires a lot less area than football or cricket, it has become very popular in schools and colleges. I think we have more than a hundred school and college level tournaments in Kathmandu. No other sport has so many competitions in a year. I would say people love to play basketball in some parts of the country but not all over Nepal and basketball should and could be way more organized in at least these parts of the country.

Having played alongside and coached several young players, what do you think is the next step for Nepal’s Basketball Association in ensuring that the sport reaches new heights?

In my opinion, I don’t think the Sports Ministry of Nepal has any specific plans about improving every sport played in Nepal. But we do have around 200 sports associations and Nepal Basketball Association (NEBA) is one of them. NEBA has to find ways to become self-sustainable by approaching corporate houses for sponsorship. The very first thing that NEBA needs is its own basketball stadium for organizing continuous basketball events throughout the year, rather than a hundred tournaments a year. NEBA has to organize age level tournaments, identify talents from these games and give regular training to them. Organizing professional leagues and creating government job opportunities for national players is also important. Organizing regular referee and coaching clinics will help in spreading basketball throughout the country. Participation in international tournaments will work in developing the craze of basketball amongst the youth.

With some impressive performances in the South Asian Games 2019, what is the one thing that you would want to improve, while heading into other national tournaments?

I would like to improve my defensive rebounding in the next tournament.

I ask this to every baller I interview, what’s your favourite basketball movie?

My favourite basketball movie is “The Glory Road”.

As the NBL (Nepal Basketball League) commences its third season and is considering a team expansion, what is your advice to young players who are considering playing professionally in Nepal?

Nepal Basketball League has been a great platform for all the Nepali basketball players and last year’s edition also provided opportunities for other South Asian players. Many young players want to play in the next edition and my advice to them is to always keep chasing your dreams and believe in yourself. There are no shortcuts in this sport. If you want opportunities you have to be ready to grind, work hard and have faith.

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