Chicago Bulls forward Thaddeus Young has recently purchased a minority ownership share in the NBL’s Brisbane Bullets franchise. Young voiced his optimism in regards to both the team and the league.
“The NBL has done a really good job the last couple years of kind of bursting onto the scene. (Denver Nuggets rookie) R.J. Hampton and LaMelo kind of made it known a little bit. I see that as a league where guys can go if they don’t want to go to college and want to come out of high school and be able to grow their games a little.” Young said before Friday’s game against the Charlotte Hornets.
A 14-year NBA veteran, Young joins a list of accomplished NBA players buying into Australia’s highest level of basketball. Stars like John Wall, Victor Oladipo, Shawn Marion and Kevin Martin are all part owners of NBL clubs, and with Young now in the fold, the league looks set to embrace even more high-profile basketballers into the ownership ranks.
— Thad Young (@yungsmoove21) January 22, 2021
Young was recruited by Bullets owner Kevin Martin. The two played together with the Minnesota Timberwolves during the 2014-15 season, before Young was traded to the Brooklyn Nets midseason, and have remained friends since. Once Martin reached out to Young two months ago, he started doing homework and saw a young league he wanted to invest in and help build.
“I look at that league as primed for growth with young talent between me being able to kind of help facilitate a lot of the young talent,” Young said, “but also being more than just a value add through capital with my expertise and knowledge around the game and relationships I have in the business world.
While the money that Thaddeus Young brings to the Brisbane Bullets is an obvious boon to the club and the league, his influence and celebrity is arguably even more important, as it brings the NBL into American headlines. Additionally, this new wave of star NBA players snapping up ownership opportunities will likely lead to word spreading in NBA circles, possibly influencing more people to buy into franchises, and perhaps even bringing more NBA-calibre talent Down Under.
The benefits of having such star power at the top of NBL clubs leads to countless opportunities for growth for the league, and it looks as though the meteoric rise of Aussie basketball isn’t simply limited to the land of plenty, but is reaching onto the shores of North America as well.
Young, 32, will be a free agent at the end of the season and will almost certainly find his name at the centre of trade discussions near the deadline this season and has a chance to get dealt to a contender. So, while Young is not spending too much time thinking about retirement just yet, he has at least considered what kind of owner he will be on the sidelines.
“I’m going to be into the game, but I’m not going to be yelling at the officials or anything like where I get kicked out and stuff,” Young said. “I’m going to be real chill, laid-back and just enjoy my time being out of the game and just having my family around.”
Ethan Pechersky is a Philadelphia-based sportswriter with a deep love for Australia. Standing 5'10" with absolutely zero basketball talent to his name, he spends his time thinking he knows more than every coach and GM in the league, and being disappointed year in and year out by his beloved Jazz's early playoff exits.