The Australian Boomers have won their first ever medal at a major international tournament, beating out Slovenia for the bronze 107-93 on the back of an inspired 42 points by Patty Mills.
I promised in the bio I wrote for Aussie Hoopla well over five years ago that I may just cry if the Boomers ever medal, and I am proud to say it’s a promise that I kept for this team.
This day has come after a 21 year wait for me personally, and obviously infinitely longer for the program.
I remember the first full Boomers game I ever watched was Australia vs. USA in the pre-Sydney exhibition in Melbourne. I remember being impressed by how much we, as an underdog, really stuck it to them.
We spent a decade almost in the doghouse of international basketball, and then you saw these kids with potential – Patty Mills, Joe Ingles, Aron Baynes, Matthew Dellavedova, and Andrew Bogut slowly but surely emerge through the ranks, getting better and better in each competition.
A few heart-breaking results between there and now, but this medal justifies the belief I have held the whole time, and even in the sport’s darkest moments, that Australian basketball was going to be a world power, and this medal solidifies and validates that belief.
This current Boomers stand on the shoulders of generations of Boomers who gave their all, put their bodies on the line, and put so much passion into that proud jersey. The list would be too long to compile.
But this medal also is for us. It’s for the fans who’ve held onto this team and believed in them when maybe the public didn’t. The ones that were there stressing out about the future when we didn’t qualify for the world cup in 2002. The ones who very literally cried and couldn’t get to sleep when we were ROBBED in 2016.
This medal validates everything that those who have put into this “minor” sport in this country have put in. We are on the podium now. All of us. The coaches, the players, the fans, and the next generation of kids who watched tonight’s game and have green and gold dreams of their own.
This is the greatest moment for Australian basketball. This is the f$#&king moon landing of Australian basketball!
No matter what happens in future campaigns, these Boomers will always be the first, the Neil Armstrongs and Buzz Aldrins of this great sport in this nation.
I could not be prouder. Savour this moment. To me, this bronze means as much as a gold. We’ve arrived.
“One small step for man….”
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.
