Philadelphia 76ers rookie and Melbournian Ben Simmons is relaxed as he stands at the free throw line at Georgetown University.
It is his final practice session before the most anticipated NBA debut by an Australian in years but Simmons shows no signs of jitters.
There is even time for a selfie.
"I'm excited, I'm trying to not make this bigger than it is. You know. It's the first game, we got a lot of games coming up but I'm excited, we definitely want to get the win tonight."
"I've been preparing for this my whole life. You know I've just been trying to get ready mentally off the court and obviously physically off the court."
He's been praised by NBA royalty like Magic Johnson and LeBron James.
It is his combination of the traditional size and strength of a power forward with the silky skills of a point guard that make him such an exciting prospect.
Tonight his team will play the Washington Wizards and it's the first real chance to see if he can extend his domination at high school and college level into the world's toughest league — the NBA.
It's been a long time coming for Simmons, who sat out all of last season after breaking his foot.
In the offseason LeBron James — considered by some the greatest of all time — mentored him but now Simmons is all business when asked if he sought advice from his mentor ahead of his debut.
"He's the enemy right now. Until the season's done. Nah, but during the summer he gives me a lot of advice, he's a great person so he's definitely one of the guys I try and learn off."
At the 76ers Simmons is coached by Brett Brown who knows Australia well.
He coached two NBL teams and married an Aussie.
"I think Australian Basketball has had lots of big moments recently. You know I coached over there for 17 years and married one. And the evolution of Australian basketball is incredibly respected around the world."
A record eight Australians will be striving for glory on NBA courts this season.
Boomers fans will be hoping they can transform that into a medal at the 2020 Olympics.
Brown says the growing strength of Australian basketball is even being noticed in the world's biggest basketball nation.
"You start seeing the volume of NCAA athletes and you start seeing the volume that are now NBA athletes. Ben Simmons is for sure an exciting part of that and there's a lot of good things going on basketball-wise in Australia."
