“I think there are fundamental things wrong, basketball is attacking the problems from the wrong end, attacking it from clubs, the micro, when it needs to be attacked from Basketball Australia and the NBL, the macro”

– Dr. Adrian Hurley discusses fundamental issues with the current structure of the NBL.

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Since the 1980’s Adrian Hurley has helped shape Australian basketball into what it is today.

Without Adrian Hurley helping to create one of the greatest development programs in sport, the AIS, we would not know of the talents of Andrew Bogut, Patty Mills, Joe Ingles, Dante Exum or many other talented basketballer players.

Without Adrian Hurley, the Australian Boomer’s don’t reach 4th place in the Olympics, the highest finish ever achieved by the men’ national team.

Basketball in this country would be a lot different without the input of this man who was the inaugural inductee of the Basketball Australia Hall of Fame.

Now after more than 14 years of meticulous collection of basketball history, Dr Adrian Hurley has put together a tome containing a history of the Australian basketball program, its players, its achievements, etc. which has never been put together before.

The book, “Hoop High A history of Australian Olympic basketball 1956-2000” details each of the Olympic Games from 1956 through to 2000. The highlights, the cities, the Olympic villages, the team assembly and preparation, as well as the detail of every basketball game played by the Australian team and a profile of every individual who donned the green and gold.

Click here to order a copy of the book Hoop High: A history of Australian Olympic basketball 1956-2000.

Since we had one of the forefathers of Australian basketball on the show we also asked him about the current status of the NBL and if he agrees with Andrew Gaze that the NBL should be “shut down” until it is fixed.

We talk about the league structure of the NBL in the 1980s, ’90s, ’00s and today and discuss what internally needs to change to make the NBL a success.

This is a quality in-depth chat with one of the great architects of Australian Basketball. Adrian Hurley has forgotten more about basketball than most of us will ever know and to hear his thoughts on the state of the game today and where our national team is heading was a joy.

Adrian discusses the medal chances for the Australian Boomers in Rio and he took the time to share some of the many memories of his time involved in the Australian men’s and women’s programs.