First Indian-origin NBA referee Suyash Mehta talks about his journey to the NBA and his idols Zach Zarba and Scott Foster

During the 2020-21 NBA season, Suyash Mehta became the first referee of Indian origin to officiate in the world's most popular basketball league. Basketball is a sport that is on the rise in India, with names like Princepal Singh, Sanjana Ramesh and now Suyash Mehta making the country proud at the global level.

Suyash Mehta credits his college roommate for introducing him to refereeing

Washington Wizards v Philadelphia 76ers

The decision to enter the world of the NBA wasn't something Suyash Mehta planned as a teenager. The Baltimore native was inclined towards pursuing a degree in neurobiology from the University of Maryland.

In a recent conference call, Sportskeeda got the opportunity to catch up with the trail-blazer, where he revealed how he caught the bug of basketball refereeing.

Congratulations to Simone Jelks, Suyash Mehta and Andy Nagy! #NBA #GLeague https://t.co/osVWoPU8De

— NBA Referees (@OfficialNBARefs) December 23, 2020

When asked who he would like to give credit to for getting him into refereeing, Suyash Mehta revealed,

"The closest person that helped me get to where I am today would definitely be G [Gediminas Petraitis] and his dad. When I started off, G was my college roommate and even he was starting out in the developmental league and soon got hired in the NBA. I remember him being the role-model that I wanted to follow, so I definitely give him a lot of credit."

The conversation then took a slightly different turn, as Suyash Mehta was put on the spot by being asked to reveal which NBA referees he looked up to when he was starting out in the developmental league. The 29 year old revealed some intriguing names,

"There is always the well-known referees like Joey Crawford and Bennett Salvatore, those are the referees everyone looks up to. I was very fortunate to grow up in Maryland, where I had a mentor in my college senior Gediminas Petraitis."

Mehta continued,

"Some of the mentors I look up to were people I watched on TV and never even made contact with, like Zach Zarba and Scott Foster. I used to watch them in basketball games and told myself, okay, these are the guys I want to emulate."

Suyash Mehta has officiated for 5 seasons in the G-League, and was also a part of the non-staff official during the 2019-20 NBA season held in the bubble in Orlando. Suyash Mehta has already been a part of more than 20 games this season, and it looks like the Indian origin referee is going to be a part of the NBA setup for years to come.

Meet the NBA's first full-time Indian-origin referee, Suyash Mehta. Learn how he shifted from pre-med to pre-ref in college and achieved the goals he set for himself with discipline and determination: https://t.co/hOf2iGKvM4 pic.twitter.com/4p4GdzahLB

— NBA Referees (@OfficialNBARefs) January 30, 2021