{"id":810861,"date":"2026-08-12T05:48:21","date_gmt":"2026-08-12T05:48:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/810861\/"},"modified":"2026-08-12T05:48:21","modified_gmt":"2026-08-12T05:48:21","slug":"top-talent-and-big-money-is-australian-basketball-heading-into-a-golden-age-basketball","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/810861\/","title":{"rendered":"Top talent and big money: is Australian basketball heading into a golden age? | Basketball"},"content":{"rendered":"

A wild confluence of basketball breakthroughs has sent the sport soaring in Australia, as national teams look towards a return to the Olympic dais, and the game\u2019s cultural impact rekindles memories of its 1990s heyday.<\/p>\n

Dyson Daniels and Josh Giddey are establishing themselves as NBA leaders, while Australian representation in the American league reaches a level once thought unimaginable, with 13 players on opening rosters last season \u2013 almost one in every two teams and roughly double the number of four years ago.<\/p>\n

Alanna Smith and Ezi Magbegor are among the top 10 earners in the WNBA, a league that has transformed the global sporting landscape thanks to the popularity of Caitlin Clark and her emerging peers like Olivia Miles. That glow has illuminated the WNBL, driving a surge of investment in recent years led by Robyn Denholm, the Australian chair of Tesla.<\/p>\n

Domestically, the NBL continues to grow, recording its largest ever crowd of 18,589 in game five of last season\u2019s championship series. Powerhouse club Melbourne United have just announced the arrival of one of the NBL\u2019s most decorated imports, NBA star Cole Anthony, alongside the return of Boomers great Joe Ingles.<\/p>\n

And if that wasn\u2019t enough, into the picture on Tuesday strolled Ben Simmons, appearing in Melbourne alongside Daniels and Giddey at an Australian players\u2019 work-out. Did the free agent and three-time NBA All Star, who is still just 30, want to play for Australia again? \u201cThat\u2019s why I\u2019m here,\u201d he told Channel Nine. \u201cIt\u2019s a long way to fly, just not to do it, man.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Opals won their first Olympic medal since 2012 in Paris, while the Boomers \u2013 after their own famous \u201crose gold\u201d in Tokyo<\/a> \u2013 are looking to return as an international force. Daniels and Giddey have assumed responsibility for a team that has long relied on Patty Mills, now 38 and playing in France.<\/p>\n

Ben Simmons is hoping to make his way back to top-level basketball. Photograph: Erik Williams\/USA Today Sports<\/p>\n

The potential presence of Simmons adds a new dynamic, as a versatile defender and ball-handling option, even if he will first need to secure a return to top level basketball. His last NBA game was April last year, and after years of back complaints the man once recognised as one of the best 15 players in the NBA is apparently pain-free and mounting a comeback.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe looked really good,\u201d Giddey said after Tuesday\u2019s workout. \u201cHe\u2019s obviously stayed in shape and been working out.\u201d Daniels went further, endorsing Simmons for a place on the Australian team for the Fiba World Cup in 12 months. \u201cIf he puts his hand up, he\u2019ll be there\u201d.<\/p>\n

It would be a squad with considerable depth, given the Australian talent on NBA rosters includes centre Jock Landale \u2013 who signed a US$14m (A$19.4m) contract with Daniels\u2019 Atlanta Hawks for the coming season, and emerging NBA wings Josh Green and Johnny Furphy. After the US, Canada and France, Australia has the most players on NBA rosters.<\/p>\n

The situation has driven the NBA to earmark Australia as a priority market for an expanded international push. The American sporting giant is bringing out promotions like NBA House, a fan expo that came to Australia in May. The New Orleans Pelicans were the first NBA team to play here during two pre-season games in Melbourne last year that almost sold out within 30 minutes of tickets being released.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat tells us how much demand there is,\u201d said Rajah Chaudhry, who is responsible for the NBA\u2019s strategy in Australia. \u201cWe\u2019d obviously love to bring out more teams and more games, but we\u2019ll see how that goes.\u201d<\/p>\n

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For the NBA\u2019s league pass live coverage subscription, only the US provides more subscribers than Australia. In the popular video game NBA 2K6, Australia ranks third globally for total hours played.<\/p>\n

While the NBA drives the most interest in basketball locally, aided by hours of daytime content especially popular with gamblers, the NBL and WNBL are also seeking to leverage the sport\u2019s expanding cultural footprint, which is echoing its 1990s boom in the era of Andrew Gaze. Last week, guard Anthony, a proven NBA performer and still just 26, signed for Melbourne United in one of the local men\u2019s league\u2019s biggest coups.<\/p>\n

Cole Anthony has arrived in Australia after securing a move from Orlando Magic. Photograph: John Raoux\/AP<\/p>\n

The former Orlando Magic player was open about seeking to return to the NBA, but said this week he chose the NBL because of its reputation. \u201cMelbourne United, to me, is an elite program where I\u2019m able to slot myself in and help them get some wins, and at the same time help boost my stock,\u201d said the man who averaged 16 points in his second year in the NBA. \u201cI just think that this could be a great opportunity to play a high level of basketball, and not just a high level of basketball, but a high level of meaningful basketball.\u201d<\/p>\n

In addition to Anthony and Ingles, this NBL season promises to showcase a player who has been identified as the most talented Australian prospect since Josh Giddey. Seventeen-year-old Luke Paul will play for the Cairns Taipans fresh off being named in the All Star Five for the Under-17 Fiba World Cup in July. Meanwhile, Jongkuch \u201cJK\u201d Mach, an 18-year-old who stands 7ft 6in , or 229 cm, is developing his game as Basketball<\/a> Australia\u2019s Centre of Excellence in Canberra.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A wild confluence of basketball breakthroughs has sent the sport soaring in Australia, as national teams look towards…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":810862,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[64],"tags":[355,99],"class_list":["post-810861","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nba","tag-nba","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/810861","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=810861"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/810861\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/810862"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=810861"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=810861"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=810861"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}