How NBA's Basketball Without Borders brought the next generation of stars to Hoopsfest
Perth's Hoopsfest was headlined by its NBL and WNBL games, but a new generation of talent was also on full display at the NBA's Asia-Pacific event.
In a first of its kind in Australia, the NBL’s inaugural Hoopsfest round brought basketball talent of all levels together in a collaborative celebration of the game.
The NBL and WNBL games were undoubtedly the event’s main attraction over at RAC Arena, but down the road at Warwick Stadium, future WNBL/NBL —and hopeful WNBA/NBA— stars were sharpening their craft against talent from all across the globe at the NBA and FIBA’s latest Basketball Without Borders event.
The initiative, started in 2001 by the NBA, was created to bring international basketball talent together from multiple regions in an effort to elevate basketball worldwide and maximise the potential of overseas growth.
Held in Perth as part of Hoopsfest, 60 Asia-Pacific athletes were exposed to coaching from a variety of NBA and WNBA greats, including former Trailblazer Terry Porter, NBA veteran Brandon Knight, current 76ers assistant coach Bobby Jackson and four-time WNBA champion Cynthia Cooper, as well as a surprise visit and Q&A from Hoopsfest ambassadors Carmelo Anthony and Kenny Smith.
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For the players, it was an immense opportunity to soak in knowledge from those that had experienced the game’s highest levels, and having benefitted from similar environments early in their careers, for the coaches, it provides an opportunity for them to pay their learnings forward.
“I love what BWB is about,” Brandon Knight said.
“I love giving back to the kids, and I’m a big believer in giving back to the game - I got a lot out of camps when I was young player and they helped me get to the NBA, and the wisdom I got from those camps made me a better player.”
With the NBA developing an ever-increasing international talent pool, events like BWB allow talent from across the world exposure to a wide variety of high level competition and coaching to continue that pipeline.
“Basketball is a global game. We want to grow the game and give kids everywhere a chance to learn at a higher level. That’s not to say there isn’t high levels all around the world, but just to give them a different experience from our lens, and the NBA lens and what that looks like as well.
“We want to grow the game, it’s been beautiful to a lot of us and changed a lot of our families lives, and we want to pass on the love and the wisdom and hopefully every kid here has aspirations of making it to hopefully the NBA or whatever level that may be. We love being able to be a part of that. Helping one kid in basketball or in life is what it’s all about.”
With greater access to to diverse coaching and access to information, players’ development is increasingly homogenised in the modern landscape, but in the eyes of Marty Clarke, distinct play styles and qualities still shine through at events like BWB.
“The global world of basketball is shrinking, and there’s more coaches going from one country to another,” Clarke shared. “If you had looked at things 30 years ago, it would’ve been very distinct, and you’d know exactly where someone had come from with the way that they played, but information exchange is much more easier, the internet is a thing, and so the game is becoming more similar, but there are still things that make certain countries stand out - for us it’s all about playing hard, playing as a team, and that’s still evident.
“[Growing similarities] are a good thing, but it’s also always good when something’s different, and I think for all people, they have to understand who they are, what they are and what their strength’s are, and that’s usually something to do with their game style and the way they teach. It’s like language, you don’t want everyone to speak English because then you lose all these other languages, same with food and everything else - imagine if everyone just ate sausage rolls and meat pies. We enjoy the fact that we can go somewhere, I’m about to jump on a plane to Serbia, and I’m expecting that to be totally different - if everything was the same as here, then why go? It’s a positive thing, all that information exchange helps developing countries develop quicker, which is good for the game, but I’d hate to see players lose their identity.”
Knight, having played overseas in the Puerto Rican BSN and Greek AEK, vouches firsthand for the disparities between overseas basketball and the NBA.
“Me going overseas for the first time, the game is very different. In Europe and other parts of the US outside of North America, there’s a lot more team practices are prioritised, a lot more actions, a lot more gameplay, so you get a lot of guys who are very savvy and understand the game, where to cut or not cut, where to be, pick and rolls, and in the States you have to be more so skilled individually, they can score the basketball and do lots of things with the ball but may not realise how to fit into a 5 on 5 scheme, so those are the major differences.”
Knight’s NBA career also coincided with a major influx of superstar level international talent, with players like Giannis Antetokounmpo, Nikola Jokić and Joel Embiid emerging as faces of the game. It’s a trend he doesn’t see slowing down anytime soon.
“I think now with events like this that the NBA runs, players can look at film of NBA players, and I can think wow, the game is so open because everyone’s been exposed to the same thing, and events like this continue to help bridge the gap, so I think we’re going to continue to see more international players, and also even more US players going to the Euroleague.”
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While all the participants stand to gain from the event’s melting pop of talent and coaching, it’s athletes from smaller basketball nations that stand to benefit the most.
“When I look at players from Mongolia and Kazakhstan and similar places, that wouldn’t necessarily be considered basketball countries, but if you go there, basketball is massive, it’s just that they often don’t have teams good enough to get out of the zones, so we don’t see them at world championships. For those players, these events would be eye-opening and a massive change. It’s not just the basketball and the coaching, they’ll go to the NBL games and think they’re fantastic, do cultural exchanges, they went to the Caversham Wildlife Park, Rottnest Island, so there’s a lot of things those players may never even get the chance to do again - basketball is the vehicle but there’s lots of other add-ons.”
The event, run in Australia no less, in coordination with the NBL, resulting in the presence of Melo and Kenny Smith as one example, is a pioneering example of the governing bodies working together to achieve mutual goals, and our own athletes are paying dividends.
“Having it in Australia helps raise the profile, particularly being a part of Hoopfest, and to be able to have something that is on the calendar, and for people to remember it was good and want to go back to that is valuable,” Clarke said.
“It’s great to have one big event. We had the opportunity to get them to come and speak and demonstrate the link between junior, FIBA, NBA, NBL and WNBL basketball - it’s good for basketball. We need to all be pushing in a similar direction. I think this has been a big step forward for basketball.”
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Throughout the week, Australian athletes thrived. On the boys side, Alex Dickeson (also MVP), Mading Kuany (also best defensive player), Ajak Nyoun, Henry Sewell, and Sa Pilimai all being voted into the All-Star team, and Zara Russell and Jade Crook were awarded the same on the girls side of the event.
For NBA legend and former Portland Pilots Division 1 men’s coach Terry Porter, he’s well aware of the talent coming out of the Australian region, and he sees BWB Asia as a fantastic platform for their exposure to the next level.
“I was fortunate in college, I played against Saint Mary’s and they had a lot of Australian players - they’re smart players, complete players that can defend, make good basketball decisions, they have good size, play with a good physicality and skill.”
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“I think whenever you talk about basketball, it’s about accumulating the best talent you can. Recruiting internationally, if you don’t have a contact internationally, it’s really expensive, and most college teams don’t have the budget to send guys regularly overseas. You need to have a coach or former player that you trust that can help you recruit. Coaches go where the talent is, and sometimes it’s tricky trying to watch film as one of your main sources. It’s more challenging because I’ve never seen someone look bad in a highlight film, so talking to the coach and getting eyes on them is really important.
“This is huge for these players because they don’t have many outlets. American coaches can call someone under the BWB and get an evaluation that way. BWB has done a great job of producing players that have gone on to play collegiately but also the pro ranks. It’s a great opportunity for them to get exposure where they otherwise wouldn’t.”
With Hoopsfest now in the books to positive acclaim, chances are high that the event returns to Perth next year, and with it, NBA and FIBA’s BWB Asia. An invaluable experience for those involved, the event’s presence in Australia is an equal boon for Australian talent and those elsewhere in the Asia-Pacific region.