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During the Detroit Pistons’ 2005-06 season, the franchise’s best regular-season record at 64-18, a then-9-year-old Jack Kelly watched his first Pistons game. That is, despite a 14-hour time difference between Eastern Time in Detroit and Australian Eastern Standard in Melbourne, Australia, where Kelly grew up and currently resides. As time has gone on, Kelly’s affinity for the team has only grown stronger. Kelly’s fandom provided stability during his childhood and enough sustainability later as an adult to pursue full-time Pistons content creation. After initially working in construction for 10 years, he went to work full-time for Australia’s National Basketball League (NBL) before quitting to pursue content creation.
“You gotta be a city person if you want to be in New York,” said Simmons, a native of Melbourne, Australia. “Biggest city in the world, you know? Mecca of basketball. Living here is great; it was a great experience for me. One thing I learned is, I’m not a city person. I like to be by the water. I like to see grass, see trees. So … it’s a different experience. But I had a blessed time here. I got family from New York that are here, so it’s always going to be another home for me. “I came here when I was younger. I think it’s just nonstop. It’s just that culture, you know? People are always going and working. You know, it’s a grind city.”
Kyrie Irving: I was born in Melbourne, Australia. I spent about a year and a half there — my dad played for the Bulleen Boomers. My mom and dad got together, and a few months later I was born. My mom ended up getting sick and had to fly back to the West Coast — Washington State. She was raised in Port Orchard and Bremerton. She went to Lincoln High School and later to Boston University, where she met my dad. When she got sick in Australia, she flew home first. My dad had to suddenly leave with me and my sister Asia. We went back to the Bronx — Mitchell Projects, look it up — and that’s where I spent a large part of my childhood. My dad created an environment of love, morals, and respect — old-school values. My mom unfortunately overdosed in 1996. I was four. Not long after, my grandmother passed the same way. It changed our lives forever.”
Ben Simmons on Philadelphia: 'I didn't appreciate the fans enough'
Ben Simmons: For me, going to a city like Philadelphia—it was so different. From Melbourne, Australia, to Louisiana, to Philly—completely different places. The fans, for instance. I didn’t appreciate the fans enough. The fans in Philadelphia are incredible. You always want to play for a team with a good fan base. Whether they’re booing or cheering, you just want fans to care. You want the arena packed.
Kyrie Irving: 'I would love to entertain playing for Team Australia'
But if not Team USA… Kyrie Irving: I would love to entertain playing for Team Australia, man. (While Irving was born in Melbourne, Australia, and holds dual citizenship, he could only play for the Australian national team if both Team USA and FIBA approved his choice.) Kyrie Irving: I don’t think it’s a strong, strong possibility at this point, depending on what the Olympic Committee does. But as a competitor, I was born in Australia. For me, it’s not a hard transition to make, but I don’t want to fall into the same, I would say, probably like — I’m trying to be very intentional with my words here. I don’t want to fall into the trap of being let down or disappointed when I know that there are other opportunities out there for me.
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Carmelo Anthony is heading Down Under. The 10-time All-Star will be coming for a whirlwind tour with stops in Melbourne and Perth to connect with fans with a series of events. Running basketball camps in both cities, Anthony will also be hosting 'An Evening with Carmelo Anthony' — sharing his personal stories from his journey to the NBA and his illustrious career, as well as a fan Q&A.
Midway through the first quarter of the Boomers’ exhibition game against South Sudan in Melbourne, Landale turned his left ankle after landing on the foot of Marial Shayok. The Boomers big man immediately clutched his ankle in pain, before hobbling straight to the locker room, unable to put significant pressure on his left foot.
The Australian National Team has announced a 13-man squad that will head to Melbourne to participate in warm-up matches ahead of the FIBA World Cup. Matthew Dellavedova and Will McDowell-White are not included in the group traveling to Melbourne.
The three warm-up games against Venezuela, Brazil, and South Sudan are scheduled to take place in Melbourne on August 14, 16, and 17. The Australian squad includes: Xavier Cooks, Dyson Daniels, Dante Exum, Josh Giddey, Chris Goulding, Josh Green, Joe Ingles, Nick Kay, Jock Landale, Patty Mills, Duop Reath, Matisse Thybulle, Jack White.
24 Calibre has today announced NBA megastar Derrick Rose will be touring Australia for 'Derrick Rose, Live' this August across Sydney and Melbourne. The NBA icon and MVP award winning player will appear at the Timber Yard in Melbourne on 25th August and at the Darling Harbour Theatre in Sydney on 27th August and the as part of an exclusive speaking event series.
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Andrew was born in Melbourne in 1984 to parents who had migrated to Australia from Croatia in the 1970s. “My mother is from Karlovac, and my dad is from Osijek,” Bogut says, before adding. “The heritage thing I always tell people is that I grew up in Australia, and I was born in Australia, but I was raised Croatian. In our home was basically Croatia, Croatian music, Croatian food, items on the wall, art, and language, and outside of it was Australia.”
Shaquille O’Neal has arrived in Melbourne on Tuesday as he prepares to take Australia by storm this week. The four-time NBA champion is visiting Australia for the first time in more than 20 years and announced his arrival tweeting: “I’m here in the land down undaa.”
After touching down in a private jet, the 50-year-old was spotted shopping at Greenvale in Melbourne’s north, where he posed for photos with local fans. O’Neal, who won three NBA title playing alongside Kobe Bryant and another at the Miami Heat, is in Australia for a speaking event this week. He will catch up with AFL great Jonathan Brown and Newcastle Knights great Matty Johns on Wednesday. The marquee moment on O’Neal’s Australian tour will see him appear at a sold-out event and fan experience at Melbourne’s Margaret Court Arena on Thursday.
In collaboration with Fanatics, the NBA today announced a multi-year partnership to open the first brick-and-mortar NBA Stores in Australia, with the first location in the Emporium in Melbourne opening in August, with a second flagship store to open in Sydney later this year.
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