The NBL has proven itself to be a credible incubator for NBA-level talent in recent years and as a result, fresh eyeballs have come to the league as more international talents play in our league.
This NBL22 season has seen South East Melbourne center Zhou Qi establish himself as one of the league’s dominant inside players. The 25-year-old Chinese National team member hopes it can see him make a return to the NBA. Princepal Singh of India and Kai Sotto of the Philippines continued their NBA audition, respectively signing with the NZ Breakers and Adelaide 36ers respectively after both international stars were recruits for the inaugural G League Ignite Program the year previous. Add Germany’s Ariel Hukporti (Melbourne), France’s Hugo Besson and Ousmane Dieng (both at New Zealand) and Tom Digbeu (Brisbane) playing alongside Chinese national team player Chuanxing Liu to the mix, it’s clear the NBL has the attention of fans and players from every continent.
As a result, teams have seen a noticeable increase of interest when the 36ers or Phoenix come to town. When Zhou visited Sydney to start the year, the arena had several pockets wearing Qi’s Phoenix jersey and other merch from the Chinese Basketball Association. Fans were snapping photos and sharing them across social platforms during the game. Many of the faithful staying behind, waving homemade signs and cheering on the big man who finished with an impressive 17 points, 13 rebounds and 5 blocks that night.
The excitement around players like Qi and Sotto is evident from recently reported NBL jersey sales, the new imports ranking first and fourth for sales from the current season.
Giannis meets hundreds of Greeks in New York and gives the shirt off his back to a fan wearing a BBB hoodie 😂😂😂 pic.twitter.com/qlCQsG16xp
— Milwaukee Bucks (@Bucks) February 4, 2018
The international attention is reminiscent of scenes in the NBA which has seen a rise of elite representation from non-American stars. Greece’s Giannis Antetokounmpo and Slovenia’s Luka Dončić greeted with flags from touring fans and the diaspora as they visit different cities.
Amazing to be at QBA today to see so many Chinese fans come out to see Zhou Qi. This video is 10 mins after the game finished as Zhou left the court. More than 1500 new Chinese fans experienced a Sydney Kings game day so hope a few come back. #WeTheKings #RiseWithUs #NBL22 pic.twitter.com/LxOQrnsonP
— Michael Johnstone (@michaeljnrl) December 18, 2021
Olympic Silver medallists France has several young talents littered in different leagues. ‘Envergure’ (wingspan in French) is a website that tracks French NBA prospects around the world. The NBL’s french contingent in Besson, Digbu and Dieng have all seen steady playing time and a number of french hoops fans have been watching their play from afar. The team behind @Envergure_pod explained the talent drain away from France.
“Pros are more and more aware that we need infrastructure if we want to keep the talent. Developing the League, everybody wants it, but the French Basketball Federation moves slowly like an ocean liner.”
🔴SCOUTING REPORT 🏀 (English version)
Hugo Besson was a bucket in the French 2nd division
Hugo Besson is a bucket in the NBL
Will Hugo Besson be a bucket in the NBA ?This, the nuances to his game, his incredible family tree
By @BenoitLelievre https://t.co/ZFQHODmqI3
— Envergure (@Envergure_Pod) March 1, 2022
Interest in these European stars doesn’t just extend to their compatriots, other NBA Draft watchers are using them as a measuring stick for their own favourites. Ryan from @getbucketsryan is a Filipino expat now living in Sydney. He’s an avid basketball fan who began a YouTube channel tracking Kai Sotto in the NBL. He’s made vlogs of 36ers games he’s travelled for in Adelaide, Brisbane and Illawarra. I connected with him during the Kings/Breakers showdown, despite calling Sydney home it was interestingly his first time watching a Kings’ game.
Catching up with @GetBucketsRyan (center) at the Kings/Flames doubleheader. Shot by @TerrenceJohnMedia
Whilst Envergure is based in France and Get Buckets is based in Australia, both have dispatches on the NBL’s international stars in their native tongue. Ryan has taken a bilingual approach telling Aussie Hoopla “as a new content creator, my priority at the start was to find my own voice. I tried speaking both just in English and just in Filipino in some videos and realised I was more “myself” with the bilingual approach. Yash of NBA India touched on the power of catered coverage “Because of Rui Hachimura, they [Japanese fans] have an entire feed which is just in Japanese… that sort of bridges the divide for a Japanese fan, who probably isn’t able to read in English.”
VIDEO: Usapang Rookie Draft Stock ni Kai Sotto at Ousmane Dieng (Translation: Talking about Kai Sotto and Ousmaine Dieng’s Draft Stock
The NBL’s foresight with the ‘Next Stars Program’ and the unquestionable success of NBLxNBA stars LaMelo Ball and Josh Giddey has vaulted the league into a legitimate NBA pathway and global hoops alternative. With growing accessibility and continued nurturing, the NBL has the potential to draw viewership from more corners of the globe.
One new NBL fan is Rajat Raghuram, growing up in the United States before returning to India at the age of 11. He’s a hoops fanatic with a broad diet following leagues in Europe and Asia. He found the NBL in large part due to the league’s growing accessibility and the buzz surrounding previous NBL Next Stars arrival and the Boomers’ strong FIBA showings.
When the pandemic started, thanks to good marketing and accessibility, the NBL was on Twitch which was really a good incentive for me to start watching it and start getting into that system. Part of the hype was LaMelo being there of course and the fact Australian basketball as a product came appearing to me…
Rajat was already sold on the NBL before the arrival of Princepal Singh. Incidentally the same happened for the Taiwanese Leagues he was watching and began writing for Rajat began watching NBL games in support of Princepal he has become fascinated by the support of the Perth Wildcats ‘red army’ and found himself becoming a fan of the squad through osmosis.
Watching the NBL he hopes that basketball will reach similar heights in India but understands it’ll take time to develop
“It’s a shame in India we don’t have a good enough product. Here, the technical side of basketball is not as proficient as the US. Because people are attracted to that success they prefer to not associate with the fact that basketball even exists here.” said Raghuram.
Rajat is one of many India hoops fans online, part of a cohort of coaches and fans who appreciate basketball on the local level and are invested in India’s young talents as they mature. Yash Matange of NBA India is part of a small team tasked with growing the sport in a cricket-mad nation. Despite the population volume of India, Yash is reluctant to call it a culture right now as the interest group is modest.
“Just by covering the sport or talking about the sport, you just speak to people and come to know who they are and what they like about the game and what they appreciate… I think there’s definitely a small group that sort of appreciates just watching pure basketball matter what the age, without the hype.” said Matange.
As an Aussie hoops fan in the ‘90s, I watched Australian basketball follow a similar journey. Memories of the first times we saw our local product go head to head with the worlds best are etched into my mind even today. The excitement when Shane Heal didn’t back down against Sir Charles in the Olympic warm-ups which led to an NBA call up. The pride I felt when the Aussie GOAT, Andrew Gaze got a much deserved NBA run with the Spurs and took home a championship ring.
Australia now trails only Canada in international representation, a distinction they’ve held for eight consecutive years. For Australia to be a consistent medal contender in World Basketball, whilst developing a domestic league that fosters and exports NBA talent is truly impressive. The inroads Basketball Australia and the NBL have achieved in fostering our basketball culture is enviable and should be celebrated. Something Aussie hoop fans should not take for granted. The challenge of growing basketball in India is a reminder of where Basketball in Australia began and how much it has grown since.
Technology has increased the penetration and accessibility of the NBL. Australia consistently leads viewership of the NBA outside the US and China. The excitement for young international talent isn’t limited to Australian audiences, these young stars are generating buzz for content creators and fan groups around the world. In our social media age, interest and community is generated by the conversations we share online.
The interest in the NBL’s young talent is bringing in a wave of Aussie content creators who can tap into international curiosity with their local insight. I found Jackson MacDonald on Twitter through his reporting on Princepal Singh.
“People in the US don’t tend to understand this league, they just look at the stats rather than what they’re doing. It’s more about giving guys the spotlight, trying to give some credit to the guys who need it.” He told AussieHoopla.
Jackson is a young reporter invested in highlighting young talent. Initially, it was a way to elevate local stars like Luke Travers and address an underserved market.
As with all prospects, especially of the international variety, it’s all in the translation. Local analysts are interpreting what they see for outsiders. Assessing whether a draft prospect can translate their international experience to NBA competition. Passionate fanbases with different cultures and vested interests are competing to be taken seriously. With the NBL is becoming more global and plenty of voices entering the mix. Not getting lost in translation is the game.
Jackson reported that the language barrier played a role in Indian star Princepal Singh not logging any NBL minutes and ultimately being cut from the NZ Breakers. Jackson continues ” I went to the game 3 nights ago, I can guarantee you that 1 out of every 5 people that was wearing a basketball jersey that night was wearing a Qi jersey. There was just a lot and they’ve drawn an entirely new audience to the league which wouldn’t have been there before”. Whether this translates into an ongoing connection to the team and league absent Qi remains to be seen.
With attention comes noise, Jackson continuing “That’s been good in some parts but not good in some parts when you’re getting death threats from Filipinos”. Like other NBL content creators, Jackson is mindful of the attention vortex around Kai Sotto “Look at the amount of YouTube videos that they’ve been making over there about him. Some about me”
Part of the bad energy is simply a product of volume. As we’ve seen with the Lakers’ LeBron and Westbrook and our own Ben Simmons, there’s a lot of content and engagement to mine from polarising players, irrespective of performance or their actions. LeBron’s playing great, Russ not so much and we’ve yet to see Ben play.
Kai has his flaws but has improved with every game and is putting together a solid draft reel in his first year as pro. A lot of the awkward energy around Kai from Aussie fans undoubtedly comes from the 2018 Basketball-brawl between the Boomers and Gilas. Travelling with the junior squad at the time, he was removed from the situation. Kai kept his head down and been a model ambassador for the Philippines and the NBL.
At some point, it comes with the territory. Jackson is philosophical having received his own outsized attention.
“I think people do it so that when somebody responds to it and they say something bad or actually correct them, then more content is just produced. It is just an endless circle.” he says.
The NBL Next Stars program has yet to deliver playoff success. It has brought jersey sales, social media follows, viral views and more media articles. Outside of Perth, NBL clubs have tended to struggle with fostering an identity because of how difficult it is to retain star imports. Melbourne’s championship last season with Jock Landale show success is possible with a “One and Done” star. Opportunities like that don’t grow on trees, and the soil would only be fertile in the big capitals. Local and naturalised players is where the investments need to be made.
The standard-bearers in instant jersey sales: LaMelo Ball and Zhou Qi
For generating excitement and broadening the fanbase, Next Stars has been perfect. It’s legitimised the league as a showcase for up and coming and older stars to get a first or return look from NBA scouts. The NBL’s media and marketing efforts have sharpened with the extra eyeballs and stakes but often at the expense of creative departments who often don’t see the windfalls that are reserved for the sporting talents.
Culture and interest have to start from somewhere and the NBL is starting to bear fruit. What the NBL, clubs, players and fans need to ultimately weigh up with the NBL Next Stars program. What does the attention translate to and is the price worth it?
Aussie on a mission to visit the 30 NBA cities. I'm halfway there. Visited all the NBL arenas for #NBL18 and looking forward to catching the Tasmania JackJumpers as soon as possible.
