I’m a huge fan of the NBA at the best of times, but having some Aussies doing great things over in the States only helps to generate even more interest.
I played a lot of basketball as a young fella, but eventually had to make the choice between it and Australian Rules.
The decision ended up being an easy one because: a) I loved playing footy as well, and b) there were probably more opportunities playing in the AFL than there were in the NBL.
It’s a choice that a lot of players face these days, and it’s a real strength of Australian Rules that most talented young athletes tend to lean towards the AFL ahead of other sports such as cricket or basketball.
But seeing Patty Mills and Aron Baynes win an NBA Championship with the San Antonio Spurs shows that a real pathway does exist for Australian basketballers to make it in the elite competition.
When I was much younger, Luc Longley pretty much flew the flag for Australians playing in the NBA.
But I also remember the hype that surrounded Mark Bradtke, Shane Heal, Chris Anstey, and even Andrew Gaze when they had their brief stints over in the States.
Next season there will be a total of five active players on NBA rosters – Mills, Baynes, Andrew Bogut, Dante Exum, and Matthew Dellavedova.
Exum has been the big news recently after he was taken by Utah with the fifth pick at the NBA Draft.
He follows in the footsteps of Bogut, who was a former number one lottery pick and now plays an important role with the Golden State Warriors.
Mills’ massive effort in the NBA Finals has also seen his profile rise considerably. In fact, he just extended his contract with the Spurs on a deal that I’m sure will set him up for life.
All this recent talk about basketball got me thinking about who at the Lions might make up the Club’s best starting five.
I apologise in advance to anyone I might have accidentally left out, but here goes:
ARCHIE SMITH – Archie turned down a number of opportunities to play college basketball over in the US to instead pursue an AFL career. If you’ve ever seen his basketball highlight reel, then you’ll know why he’s the first player you would select at the Lions. Would produce an unbelievable highlights reel.
STEFAN MARTIN – Stef was another latecomer to AFL after playing basketball for most of his junior days. In fact, he first started playing AFL when a mate of his invited him to fill-in one day. Like Archie, he’s a freak athlete.
JORDAN LISLE – During last year’s visit to Arizona, a few of the boys took on some of the local NAU athletes in a game of basketball – and I’d like to think we gave them a nice touch-up. Stef and Jordy were the standouts that day, so I figure both should sit comfortably in this team.
JED ADCOCK – Jed was a gun bush basketballer back in the day, and probably could have pursued an NBL career if he wanted. Plus, someone has to play defence!
TOM CUTLER – I admit that I haven’t a lot of Tommy’s basketball ability, but by all accounts he’s a star. Like a lot of the boys, he played a lot as a junior, and you can just tell just by the way he moves that he would a weapon on the court.
