If Patty Mills was not still recovering from shoulder surgery, Australian basketball history would be made this week when the San Antonio Spurs take on the Utah Jazz. Bar that torn rotator cuff, Mills and team-mate Aron Baynes would have faced off against Dante Exum and Joe Ingles in a sporting landmark: four Australians in one NBA game.
While the record books can wait – Baynes and company will have to satisfy themselves equalling the previous milestone of three Boomers on the same court – San Antonio’s clash with Utah is a sign of things to come. The antipodean armada has arrived, and another fleet is on its way.
In total seven Australians take to the floor this season, from much-hyped Exum to LeBron James’s locker room neighbour Matthew Dellavedova at Cleveland Cavaliers. With young prospects Ben Simmons and Thon Maker only a few years away from the league, two stars-in-the-making with such obvious potential that scouts are salivating, Australian basketball is on a steady upwards trajectory.
For good reason, too. The Basketball Centre of Excellence at the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) has perfected a veritable top athlete production process, while participation levels across the country continue to rise. Growing interest in the sport is also demonstrated on a commercial level: Australia ranks top for e-commerce and has the highest subscription rate to the NBA’s League Pass product outside North America.
The 2014/15 campaign may still be young, but already the Australian contingent has surpassed expectations. Despite critical pre-season predictions from some – “a flawed player with a relatively defined ceiling”, Victorian point guard Dellavedova quickly became a key member of the Cleveland rotation on a roster replete with stars such as James, Kevin Love and Kyrie Irving.
The 24-year-old’s work rate and defensive tenacity endeared the guard to new boss David Platt, with Dellavedova’s importance amply demonstrated by a recent injury. “We’re hurting without him,” the Cavaliers coach admitted.
Another Australian showing his worth this year is veteran big-man Andrew Bogut. In the hullabaloo surrounding Exum’s draft ascension, it would have been easy to forget that Australia was already home to a former number one lottery selection, a memory slip made easier by Bogut’s injury-plagued past.
Yet as the other title contenders stumble, Bogut has led his Golden State Warriors to first in the Western Conference with aplomb. Averaging just shy of a double-double every game, the Melbournian has looked impervious on defence and aggressive under the opposition basket. While an All-Star call up may seem ambitious, given the depth of talent on his side of the league, the prospect of a healthy Bogut bodes well for both club and country.
Elsewhere, new draftee Cameron Bairstow recently made his starting debut for Chicago, while World Cup bright light Ingles is averaging almost 20 minutes a game. Gangly centre Baynes has also parlayed his impressive national team form to the NBA, collecting approximately seven points per hit-out for San Antonio in the absence of several more established players.
And then, the mysterious and mercurial Exum.
Offering balanced analysis of the 19-year-old is difficult. To some, Exum could be the biggest draft flop in a decade, while to others – this writer included – he is undoubtedly a risk worth taking. With on-court intelligence well beyond his years and superlative athletic ability, Exum certainly has the potential to be the best ever Australian basketball player.
Not unexpectedly, though, his first months in the NBA have been mixed. He earned rave reviews after scoring nine points in a close win against Detroit and his alley-oop passes to Frenchman Rudy Gobert are quite the spectacle, yet Exum often looks lost in big games. He is, evidently, still learning his craft – hardly a major slight against a teenager straight out of school – but ammunition nonetheless for the doubters who questioned Utah’s decision to draft him at number five.
While the Exum debate will likely rage on for the foreseeable future, the guard has shown enough in his limited court time so far to suggest superstar status is not unattainable. Notwithstanding Exum’s impressive physical attributes, that willingness to learn recently praised by coach Quin Snyder could prove the most important of the AIS-product’s abundant assets.
Look beyond the current season’s horizon and a raft of Australian talent appear destined to follow in Exum’s footsteps sooner rather than later. Although draft prediction is an imprecise art, high-schooler Simmons is the consensus number one pick come June 2016 owing to his athleticism and scoring ability, while Maker could follow the year after. The Sudanese-born sensation combines a point guard’s ball-handling skills with the height of a centre to potent effect, and his brother Matur looks equally promising.
Three years ago there was only one Australian in the NBA. Now, seven dot the rosters of clubs across the league, while numerous young players have found temporary residence in the American college and high school system. It is certainly not outlandish to suggest that, within five to 10 years, the number of Australians plying their trade in the world’s premier basketball competition could double.
Basketball in Australia is booming. And history will continue to be made.
