Make The NBL Great Again!

Full House at John Cain Arena

Where does the NBL go to take it to the next level?

The NBL is best professional basketball league outside of the NBA, so how does it take the next step to rival the NBA? Is it a NBL All-Star game, more teams in the league, playing more games in America or only giving NBL Next Stars to top ranked teams in the NBL?

The NBL has exploded in popularity over the past five years with the introduction of the NBL Next Star program and its multiple first and second round draft picks. Names such as LaMelo Ball, RJ Hampton, Josh Giddey and most recently Alexandre Sarr, have all showed that the alternate route to college and the G-League Ignite is a successful one.

But where does the NBL go to now?

Let’s dive in and give a few of The Basketball Fix’s thoughts. How about we start with something that has been gaining more and more traction the bigger and more popular the league has gotten, a NBL All-Star game. This is something that is a staple in many professional leagues around the world no matter what sport it is. It’s a way to reward the best players in the league and also create an event which is thoroughly engaging for the fans.

How do you run it though? We have seen in the NBA for example that they have had it as an East V West or a Captains draft with the two most popular players getting to choose their players for their teams. Josh Higgins Basketball Expert and Host of The Basketball Fix Podcast shared his thoughts on how you could arrange it.

The West V East scenario seemed to be the overall most popular choice for all of The Basketball Fix’s Hosts, Josh Higgins, Ryan Tucker and Jeremy Darke. So how would you split it because the Perth Wildcats are the only real team in the West. The thought was to make it Perth, Adelaide and Queensland as the West versus Sydney, Melbourne, Tasmania and New Zealand as the East. Is this the right choice and would it be a great thing for the NBL?

Listen to The Basketball Fix discuss all of these points and so much more!

No more NBL teams playing against NBA teams in the NBA preseasons!

The next topic was the NBL Next Star program and how it can get better and how it can get bigger. One of the thoughts suggested was that the NBL Next Stars would go to the top teams first from the season prior so that the Next Stars can develop in a winning organisation and have the chance at playoff success and having a deep playoff run. The Next Star program is designed to get these young, talented and exciting players over to the NBL to develop, showcase their talent and move up the NBA draft board.

So why would they want to come over to South East Melbourne Phoneix, Adelaide 36ers and even the Brisbane Bullets. These are franchise who have failed in the most reason seasons to have playoff success and even regular season success. Some have also been classed as dysfunctional franchise, so in all seriousness why would a young talented player want to go to those franchises to not really achieve much at all. These kids want to win and have fun, so why don’t we give them that chance?

This one is something that has frustrated a lot of fans of the NBL since it was first introduced. Sending a NBL team or two over to the US to take on some NBA teams in the NBA preseason. Yes of course it is about gaining traction in the US and showing the world what the NBL is and how great it is, but it’s truly ruining the overall product of the NBL.

Teams will start the season in the NBL and after three or four rounds are on a plane to the US to take on some NBA teams and after it’s all done they will head home, have a short break and play more games over the rest of the season then any other team in the league. It just doesn’t make sense and it needs to be adjusted to suit the NBL season and the NBA preseason. How do you do that, maybe you don’t even continue with this going forward? Maybe you allow the NBL to continue to grow? The league has the exposure and the reputation as a top league in the world, so why are we bowing down to the NBLs biggest competitor.

Does this really Make The NBL Great Again?

Now the last topic discussed was the talk around the expansion of the league as a whole. Do we need more teams, more players and more games each week or is where we are right now more than enough? This is a tough subject for sure, with the league in a great spot, the additions of another one or two NBL franchises could be great. It would bring the opportunity for more NBL1 and international players to join the NBL, but it could also sink the overall product because if you can’t find the talent to fill the teams and rosters then are you really getting anywhere?

The NBL would be scared in a way to expand to quick with how its history has been. As a league they have had to relocate teams and even get rid of teams all together, so is this the best thing for the NBL right now when they are in a very stable place finically and viewership wise. It has to be a genuine question though with how great the Tasmanian JackJumpers start to the NBL has been, but the biggest question is where do you put the new team?

The NBL is at a great point with everything considered but these are just a few things that the NBL could do to enhance the overall experience for some of the greatest fans in the world. It’s really all about “Making the NBL great again!”