Basketball coach Dave Nelson voted for Kulveer Parhar’s video in the Toronto Raptors Fanbassador contest.
But the coach had to wonder: how come Parhar never shot the ball like that when he played for Nelson at NDSS?
Parhar is one of 10 finalists in the contest, meaning he has a chance to win a trip to London, England, to watch his beloved Toronto Raptors take on the New Jersey Nets in a pair of regular-season NBA games in March. It would be a sweet prize for Parhar, who hardly ever misses watching Raptors games on TV.
“I’m a big-time Raptors fan,” Parhar said. “Being one of Canada’s teams has something to do with it. Over the years you build a type of attachment.”
After hearing about the Fanbassador contest, the first-year med student at UBC took the earliest opportunity to film a video over Christmas break in Nanaimo. He recruited his younger brother Aman, a member of the NDSS Islanders basketball team, as his cameraman and hooped it up at his alma mater.
Parhar’s video shows him draining a shot from way out before finishing with a slam dunk and a close-up of him mugging for the camera.
“I started thinking of some creative ideas because I noticed a lot of other [contestants] were just sitting in front of their computers, talking to the camera,” he said. “I wanted people to get a laugh out of it and sort of set me apart from the competition.”
Contest judges picked the 10 finalists, but the winner will be determined by an online vote. As of today (Jan. 15) there are 10 days left to vote for Parhar’s video.
“I’m confident with my video…” he said. “But I guess at this point the support you get from your friends and family and word of mouth and that kind of stuff, that’s going to determine the winner.”
Anyone who votes in the contest is entered into a draw for a 55-inch high-definition TV from LG. To vote, click here.
sports@nanaimobulletin.com