Basketball from a fan’s perspective

“Make each day your masterpiece” John Wooden  

The NBA in Australia?

Allow an explanation for the headline above, the National Basketball League or NBL has been in operation in Australia since 1979.  In that span of years several American players have journeyed to The Land Down Under to play professionally.  We could look at Nets guard Kyrie Irving, he was born in Australia at that time his father was in the country playing in the NBL.  We could make a similar statement regarding Sixer point guard Ben Simmons.  Over the years several native Australians have played in the NBA. 

Most recently LaMelo Ball used the NBL to provide proof to NBA scouts he could play, until his injury the point was proven.  American interest have attempted to buy into the NBL by purchasing stock in the teams.  Bucks forward Khris Middleton purchased a share in the Brisbane Bullets group, he joins Bulls forward Thaddeus Young who obtained a portion of the team earlier.  Rockets guard John Wall is a part-owner of South East Melbourne Phoenix and Victor Oladipo purchased interest in the New Zealand Breakers last season.  After playing for the Illawarra Hawks LaMelo Ball’s group attempted to purchase the team however his group lost out to Bryan Colangelo’s party.    

Will this work?

Like me you might have seen their work in the past, the reference is a company titled Overtime.  They produce highlight tapes we see over the internet, this time they are venturing into a new area.  In September 2021 prepare yourself for Overtime Elite a basketball league for 16–18-year-old athletes.  The early indication this startup league if successful might prove to be another nail in the coffin for college basketball.  In addition, this league intends to lead the way to a pro career in the NBA or elsewhere.  This is the startup leagues proposal:

$100,000 minimum salary

Health benefits

Equity stake in Overtime

“If an athlete decides to not pursue basketball professionally, Overtime will cover college tuition up to $100,000.”  What does this appear to you, can this proposed league work considering they must compete with colleges, NBA G-League, Euro and Australian leagues for basketball talent? 

Ignoring the elephant in the room

The headline is a classic statement; it simply implies although a significant problem exists you simply ignore the possible ramifications.  That is the case for much of Jayhawk Nation, they ignore the pending NCAA judication which will impact the basketball program.  The NCAA claimed there were rampant improprieties existing, they slapped five Level 1 violations on the Kansas program.  As you are aware Level 1 violations are the most serious of charges.  It indicates lack of institutional control and is aimed squarely at the head coach and his staff.  The response by Kansas as reported earlier is to sign Bill Self to a lifetime contract giving the NCAA the middle finger. 

How has this affected recruiting, this is no proof only speculation.  Here are the examples, Jeremiah Robinson-Earl attended a metro Kansas City school on the Kansas side.  The connection, his father Lester Earl began his college basketball at LSU but finished at Kansas so what does the son do?  He leaves the area signing with Villanova rather than his father’s school.  That was the old, the more recent recruiting example is Hunter Sallis rated the number 7 prospect in the Class of 2021.  This prospect was on the radar for Kansas, and he played but 3 hours’ drive time north of Lawrence in Omaha Nebraska.  When it became time to decide, he chose Gonzaga over Kansas.  The west coast school has been particularly good in recent years but losing a prospect to Gonzaga wouldn’t have occurred 5-6 years ago.  It is certainly not doom and gloom there are prospects heading to Lawrence in the fall, the question how many chose somewhere else with sanctions likely headed for Kansas basketball.    

Is he there?

Every NBA draft a mostly unknown foreign-born player is announced by the commissioner in the annual draft.  The most recent examples are Kristaps Porzingis drafted in 2015 by the Knicks, he’s since been traded to the Mavs.  More recently it was Luka Doncic drafted by the Hawks in 2018, his rights were later traded to the Mavs.  In the July 2021 draft is there a pick from Europe, Asia or Australia that might surprise? 

Let’s peek at the mock draft sites and identify several names, foreign born players at U.S. colleges or in the G-League are not included in this account.  The first athlete we identify is Josh Giddey a 6-foot 8-inch point guard from Australia who played for the Adelaide 36ers in the Australia Basketball League.  We also have Usman Garuba a 6-foot 8-inch power forward, Garuba played for Real Madrid in the Euro League.  We close this with 6-foot 9-inch Roko Prkacin a power forward from Croatia.  This is a guesstimate, there is no guarantee the names mentioned will be drafted in the first round.