NBL General Manager and majority owner Larry Kestelman is a man of action, and today’s confirmation that the Brisbane Bullets are set to return for the 2016/17 season is testament to this.
It is something the prior incarnations of the league had tried to do – and failed.
It is something professional business groups led by respected basketball identities in Brisbane tried to get across the line – and failed, despite their best efforts.
But Larry Kestelman, in his merely three months in tenure, has made it happen . But not without some gentle nudging from FOX SPORTS.
Fox Sports: You the real MVP!The landmark FOX SPORTS deal, signed early September, had within a clause to bring Brisbane into the fold.
FOX SPORTS wanted the league to have representation in Brisbane – and the NBL has wasted no time in delivering.
The NBL has moved aggressively on the matter; setting up Job Applications on seek.com for a General Manager, appointing CJ Bruton as assistant coach, and allegedly funding the cost and development of the franchise “until the right ownership group is identified”.
Further proving just how serious they are about this, they have released a new logo, and announced the uniform colours – to be maroon and gold.
Brisbane fans: It is not talk this time. It is really happening. I am super serial!
It is another step on the path to making the NBL a truly national competition. It extends the footprint of the league, and its partners and sponsors by extension.
Check out the new logo below:
Jarrad Hurley's professional basketball aspirations led him to the dizzying heights of the Adelaide social league circuit. After an epiphany that his hoop dreams would go unrealised, he put the ball down and picked up a pen. Jarrad lives vicariously through the successes of Australian basketball, is a mad 36ers fanatic, and might just cry if the Boomers ever medal.
