The courtside commentator called him “the Aussie”.
On Los Angeles’ famous Venice Beach basketball courts, Scott Pendlebury rocked up like a scene from the hit ’90s movie “White Men Can’t Jump”.
There were boom boxes blaring, hoopsters wearing their caps backwards, and some tense moments over lineball foul calls.
In the middle of it all, the AFL’s games-record holder was in anonymous basketball mode, wearing one of the biggest smiles of his adult sporting life.
Unsurprisingly, organisers made the man who led Collingwood for nine-straight years captain of his new street ball team, picking players he’d barely met from the schoolyard-style line-up.
It was one of the many unforgettable moments on a dream Los Angeles trip for Pendlebury to Amazon Prime’s studios to meet former NBA superstar Blake Griffin, swap notes on training methods, deep dive on the NBA Cup and witness the future of sports broadcasting on their immersive court.
At Prime, analysts Dirk Nowitzki, Udonis Haslem and Griffin not only break down the big moments, they recreate and re-imagine them with ball in hand.
The floor and walls are eye-popping LED Screens as part of one of the most high-tech, custom-designed and expensive studios in the world.
For Pendlebury, this was a week of basketball heaven for a man who narrowly picked the leather Sherrin over his own hoop dreams.
He sat courtside to watch back-to-back 40-point games from Lakers superstar Luka Doncic, and a buzzer-beater from new Miami Heat sharpshooter, Klay Thompson.
Doncic, 27, and Thompson, 36, were both traded from their clubs against their wishes in controversial fashion.
Thompson was perhaps seen as a bit too old and washed, and Doncic a handful.
Pendlebury’s situation is markedly different as he makes his way from Collingwood to Gold Coast – after two premierships, six All-Australian selections and five best and fairests – for his 22nd AFL season next year.
It was an enormous call for Collingwood’s greatest player.
But the fire still burns for the new Sun.
“I am going (to Gold Coast) to win. Their list is incredible. I think outside of Collingwood in 2010-11, it might be the most talented group I have been a part of,” Pendlebury said.
“So I wouldn’t be going there if I didn’t think we could compete (for the flag).
“I was never going to just stick around and try to play just to get games or anything like that.
“No, I’m going there to a team that I think is good enough.
“And I know I can still play at a high level and perform.
“But there needs to be cohesion and acceptance of role, too. So that is the exciting part.
“Can I go up there and help Rowelly (Matt Rowell), Noah (Anderson), and ‘Trac’ (Christian Petracca)? Guys like that. Everyone.
“It’s about the whole team.”
MORE LEFT
It’s why Pendlebury was up early pounding the LA pavement every day from sunrise last week, climbing up Runyon Canyon, swimming in rooftop pools, acclimatising in the California heat, and hooping whenever he could in preparation for the big family move.
Even on holiday, every training detail is carefully-crafted and planned the night before, and tracked by distance, time and intensity.
He has more than a decade’s worth of his own performance data captured by artificial intelligence to help sharpen his daily needs to the finest point.
So it was two-to-three hours of work every day under cloudless skies for the 38-year-old.
No sleep-ins and zero cheat meals. He averaged 30,000 steps a day.
On the Venice Beach courts, where the competitive juices flowed, the hustle was real.
Pendlebury, who represented Australia as a junior, wound back his basketball clock.
“I came here 15 years ago and said to (wife) Alex, ‘I would love to play here one day’,” he said.
“Most people would have seen ‘White Man Can’t Jump’, so getting to play here and just the whole experience was super-nostalgic for me.
“I could just have fun and do something I love. No expectations. Not that I really worry about expectations.
“But the sunset, the palm trees. And picking players I had barely met for my team. It was magic. I loved it.
“There were some heated moments and some interesting characters starting to pop up everywhere, and some trash talk.
“There was some arguing. So I had to make some wise business decisions.
“But people talk about my basketball background, and along with my family and footy, obviously, this is a true passion for me.
“So it was amazing to actually play at one of the most iconic courts in the world.”
Pendlebury shone in the game, nailing some sweet mid-range jumpers, a two-on-one drive to the basket, and a no-look pass down the middle.
But there was one problem.
One of his teammates, Kobe Zhye, kept slipping over on court.
His old shoes had no grip left. He said he was saving up for some new ones.
So Pendlebury gave him his new basketball boots. They were both size 13.
“I needed new shoes and he helped me. They fit super well,” Zhye said.
PRIME TIME
Back at the Prime Studios, the buzz was the NBA Cup.
The in-season tournament games Prime showcase exclusively to Australian viewers to spice up the 82-game season, on top of the regular season action, the play-in tournament and the playoffs.
The NBA Cup finals begin on Prime on December 4.
The AFL is considering a similar in-season tournament concept for when Tasmania joins in 2028 with extra prizemoney up for grabs.
Prime analyst Griffin says it works perfectly in the NBA to help increase the stakes amid a marathon season.
“It is giving teams, especially young teams that need that experience and playing in a simulated playoff game,” Griffin said.
“It’s not the playoffs, but it is something different. It is something very special.”
Griffin, 37, has surprised himself in the media, something he originally said he would never do when he was one of the game’s most spectacular athletes and slam dunkers at LA Clippers.
Griffin was a basketball powerhouse with springs for legs. His Clippers’ team was nicknamed “Lob City”.
These days, there’s the sharp analysis and fun behind the desk, but it is on Prime’s flash new immersive court that the show goes to the next level in astonishing colour and detail.
“I actually, truly, was somewhat vocal about not wanting to ever do this (media),” Griffin said.
“I always felt like it felt a little bit critical. It didn’t feel like there was a lot of teaching or uplifting or celebrating the game.
“But when Amazon Prime partnered with the NBA, it aligned with how I felt and being a part of a show that entertains but also educates and, you know, uplifts because this game is hard enough.
“And the LED court has been so cool because if Steve Nash, Kyle Lowry is here, and then UD (Udonis Haslem) and Dirk, it’s like, you’re getting to hear from some of the best players of all time. And they’re doing it.
“So it’s not just like, ‘That player missed a number shots, he’s terrible’. No.
“We break down the play on court because there is lots of moving parts to it all.
“We try to zoom in on, like, what makes this play special or what makes this play work, or what could they do a little bit better?”
SUN RISE
For Pendlebury, it was a chance to understand some of the things that made Griffin an unstoppable force in the key in his prime.
This man played basketball above the rim.
Griffin said he would lift weights immediately after games finished to maximise recovery time, even if it meant hitting the gym after midnight when he was already fatigued from the on-court battle.
It was right up Pendlebury’s alley, as he looks to squeeze everything possible out of his champion 442-game career.
“Getting to meet Blake, he’s one of the greatest,” Pendlebury said.
“I was shocked at how humble and relaxed he was. And it showed on screen. Just how comfortable he was.
“They could show their natural personality and Prime talk about a no di—heads policy, and you could tell.
“Then with the court they can light up where they are missing the shots, why they’re missing and all the analytics, the stats.
“But he was also asking about AFL and then we drifted into his training and how he lifted (weights) after games to give him 12 more hours to recover as part of a 48-hour window between games.
“Then they can shoot between games. That interests me. I’m thinking all the time about getting better.
“And even pre-seasons, they (NBA teams) do three-week camps (to prepare for the season). We do four months.
“So it’s up to them to come back (from the off-season) in shape. In the AFL, I think we are ‘babied’ a bit in that regard.
“We get back in November and we are monitored the whole way.”
The AFL’s oldest player knows he is on the clock.
He signed a two-year deal to help a club that has won only one final in 16 years gain some much-needed respect.
Last year for the Suns was a disaster.
But Pendlebury is ready to hit the ground running after using the LA trip as a mini training camp.
And the conversations with his new teammates are already flowing.
“I’m moving in 10 days’ time. I have got a heap on my plate and Alex was so supportive taking care of the kids,” he said.
“But I knew I had to turn up to a new club in really good shape.
“In LA, the weather is great and similar to Gold Coast. There’s gyms everywhere and getting a different training stimulus and my basketball fix as well.
“I couldn’t picture a better week for what is next.”
TAKING OVER
On the Lakers’ home court, Pendlebury saw Doncic’s star explode.
The man who was seen as overweight, not professional enough and a distraction at Dallas, has become the No.1 player in the game in his third NBA season at the Lakers.
Now that LeBron James has departed LA, the most famous franchise in basketball is Doncic’s team.
And he is in breathtaking form.
On consecutive nights, Pendlebury watched courtside as the MVP favourite sunk Toronto with 45 points and the Heat with 42 the next night.
Doncic dazzled from beyond the arc, nailing 14 from 27 three-point attempts across the two games. He also dominated on the defensive end, despite some divisive carry-on with the referees.
Pendlebury, who is a lifelong Lakers’ fan, said Doncic clearly had a point to prove as he continues his historic run through the first month of the new season.
“Obviously getting punted (from Dallas) would have pi—- him off,” Pendlebury said.
“But he has come back in shape this year.
“That has been the question mark on him and for someone at his level – that should never be a question mark.
“Not on your preparation or presentation.
“But now that he is in amazing shape, he looks quicker, and they can’t guard him. And he looks good on defence.
“You couldn’t take your eyes off him and the numbers he has put up so far have never been seen before.”
Across town at Intuit Dome, the LA Clippers’ light shows, massive replay screens, facial recognition systems, sound and in-seat tech is the best in world sport.
It is one of the crown jewel venues of the 2028 LA Olympics.
“Intuit Dome is the best arena I’ve ever been to in the world. That blew me away,” Pendlebury said.
“It’s like the future of sport, probably everywhere. Everything’s touchless. The tech, fan engagement.
“It just scans your face to pay. Everything’s so easy for people. The number of bathrooms.
“At Crypto Centre, or Staples, where the Lakers play, it’s the history of it. The statues of Kobe, ‘Shaq’ and Magic Johnson. The feel.
“At Intuit, it was just off its head. Like it was a game seven of the playoffs, but every night.
“So, the light shows, the tech, atmosphere and the energy. The steep wall (of fans) at one end.
“I had not seen anything like it.”
Scott Pendlebury and Jay Clark travelled to Los Angeles as guests of NBA On Prime.
FOR THE KIDS: PENDLES LEAVES NEW NUMBER CALL TO THE FAMILY
New Gold Coast Sun Scott Pendlebury said he let his children pick the No.7 jumper he will wear at his new club next season.
The champion midfielder has worn the iconic No.10 for two decades at Collingwood which is likely to be put on ice by the Magpies for the 2027 season.
Steele Sidebottom’s No.22 is also likely to be shelved by the Magpies for one year out of respect to the dual premiership superstars.
Pendlebury said he was given a list of possible new numbers to wear at Gold Coast excluding the No.10 which is Charlie Ballard’s.
The veteran ballwinner said he put his new number selection to a family vote.
“I got sent a list of numbers and to be honest, I just said to my kids and (wife) Alex, what do you think? What number?” Pendlebury said.
“They were pretty adamant. They all liked seven.
“So I will be wearing seven next year and it has been something I’ve been asked about a lot. Whether I will want to wear the number 10 again?
“But that is clearly Charlie’s.
“I feel like 10 and Collingwood is that chapter for me. It’s a chapter I loved and I will be forever grateful for.
“But now, it’s seven and Gold Coast is my new chapter.
“So, I like it.”
Pendlebury said he had already circled in his diary his first clash against his former Collingwood teammates at Carrara under lights on Saturday, June 26.
The 38-year-old signed a four-year deal at Gold Coast including two as a player and two as a coach in a similar arrangement to Luke Hodge’s move to the Brisbane Lions.
The six-time All-Australian said he was looking forward to the first meeting against his former teammates, and in particular, any amusing verbal exchanges.
“Round 15 I think it is,” Pendlebury said.
“I think it will be maybe a bit weird at the start, but I know I will enjoy it.
“It will be great fun. There will be a bit of lip and a bit of banter.
“But when you start your career you actually compete with your teammates a lot for a spot.
“So I have played against guys I have trained with my whole life. I have actually played against them more than anyone, really.
“‘Bruzzy’ (Brayden) Maynard – I have competed against him one thousand times.
“But I love those boys and I will always love the club.
“I will just be interested to see what jumpers my kids wear.”