Australia's rising basketball stars and the NBA connection

With the start of the 2025–2026 season, most leagues are kicking off, not just in Europe but also on the other side of the world. In 1997, the Australian league stopped playing between April and September, now taking advantage of the spring–summer season on the oceanic continent.

With ongoing sponsorship from Hungry Jack's, the NBL has made giant strides as Australian players continue to carve out their niche in the NBA. It is the third country, behind only Canada and Serbia, that has exported the most players to the world's best league. And in the NCAA, there are more Australians than ever pursuing the dream of playing in the NBA, following in the footsteps of Patty Mills, Aron Baynes, Joe Ingles and Andrew Bogut.

An emerging league: owned by former NBA players

Two situations have overlapped in parallel and led to the league achieving definitive recognition. The first is the attraction of investors, mainly retired or current NBA players who have shown interest in the NBL, such as Shawn Marion (New Zealand), joining the leadership of the team's majority shareholder Kevin Martin.

But it's not just basketball players. In recent years, Nick Kyrgios invested in the South East Melbourne Phoenix, joining other high-profile athletes in supporting the league’s growth.

Why? Firstly, because of the NBL's alignment with the Australian boom in the NBA. Public support and interest in native players in the world's best league has led to Australia becoming the second-largest market for NBA League Pass subscriptions outside the United States.

At the end of the 2018–2019 season, 13 Australian players were part of the NBA. Since then, players like Josh Giddey, now with the Chicago Bulls, and Ben Simmons have continued to strengthen Australia’s presence in the league, boosting viewership and social media highlights worldwide.

Secondly, because it is a good testing ground or first step towards becoming a shareholder or executive of an NBA franchise in the future. To give an example, Zach Randolph's last two-year NBA contract was worth £35 million. That is not enough to own an NBA franchise, but it is enough to invest in the NBL — a strategy similar to how sports enthusiasts diversify their interests, taking advantage of opportunities like the Wanted Win no deposit bonus or investing in a team to engage with competitive games responsibly.

Larry Kestelman, executive chairman of the competition, which he took over in 2015 and which has grown steadily ever since, gave a very graphic example to ESPN:
"If you want to drive a big car, you drive a small one first. It's no different. We're nothing like an NBA club in terms of resources, but in a way that's good because you can really get your hands dirty and get involved in everything that needs to be done around a club."

"It's the closest thing to the NBA," Marion said. "I saw the way they ran the league: the quality of the production, the timely payment of players and the fan base they have. The players, the coaches, the facilities, the trainers, the marketing... it really felt like a small-scale NBA," Martin said.

Even LaMarcus Aldridge, who attended an NBL event in 2024, said the league is growing quickly and gaining international recognition. The NBL offers a professional setup and fan engagement that mirrors the NBA on a smaller scale.

The NBL next stars programme

Secondly, the launch of the NBL Next Stars programme in the 2018–2019 season has attracted outside attention, especially from the United States. How? By bringing in NBA Draft-age prospects to develop quickly in a professional league.

To date, eight have been selected in the NBA Draft, three of them in lottery positions: LaMelo Ball (number 3 in 2020), Josh Giddey (6 in 2021), and Ousmane Dieng (11 in 2022). The first two were key in putting the spotlight on Australia. Added to these are RJ Hampton, former Zaragoza player Justinian Jessup, Mojave King, Didi Louzada, and Rayan Rupert.

For the 2025–2026 season, the league has its largest crop yet of eight Next Stars players. Among them are Alexandre Sarr, drafted by the Washington Wizards in 2024 and formerly with the Perth Wildcats; Trentyn Flowers (Adelaide 36ers) and AJ Johnson (Illawarra Hawks); and Bobi Klintman (Cairns Taipans). These players are still considered top prospects for upcoming NBA Drafts.

This hype has meant that opening day, broadcast by ESPN, saw a 40% increase compared to the previous season, while total attendance reached over 50,934 spectators, breaking the previous record set in 2018–2019.

Training: the key to success

Another key factor in the growth of Australian basketball is training. Much of the credit goes to the Centre of Excellence and the NBA Global Academy, which, interestingly, share headquarters at the AIS in Canberra.

The Basketball Australia Centre of Excellence has produced Andrew Bogut, Patty Mills, Matthew Dellavedova, Joe Ingles, Aron Baynes, Dante Exum, Cameron Bairstow, Lauren Jackson, and Penny Taylor, while Josh Giddey became the first NBA Academy graduate to be selected in the NBA Draft.

In addition, since the 2019–2020 season, players from both programmes have formed a team that competes in NBL1, the second division, which helps them take another step forward in their competitive development.