NBA’s New Orleans Pelicans to play Melbourne teams in a first for Australia
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New Orleans Pelicans forward Zion Williamson dribbles against the Phoenix Suns in the second quarter at Footprint Centre.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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MELBOURNE – The New Orleans Pelicans will play two pre-season games in Melbourne in October, bringing the National Basketball Association (NBA) to Australia for the first time.
The Pelicans will play the National Basketball League’s (NBL) Melbourne United on Oct 3 and South East Melbourne Phoenix two days later at Melbourne Park, the leagues announced on March 11.
“Bringing the Pelicans and the NBA to Australia for the first time is a proud milestone. This is just the beginning of what we hope will be a lasting connection between the Pelicans and the basketball community in Australia,” Pelicans president Dennis Lauscha said in a statement.
Melbourne United, who have featured NBA players Patty Mills, Andrew Gaze and Matthew Dellavedova on their roster over the years, are currently 1-0 up in the NBL championship series against the Illawarra Hawks.
The Phoenix were an expansion team who entered the NBL in 2019 and lost 2-1 to the Hawks in this season’s play-off semi-finals.
Basketball is not the most popular sport Down Under, but more and more people are watching the NBA, with Australia notching the highest viewing figures outside the United States on the league’s digital platform in the 2023-24 season.
A record of 14 Australians, including Mills, Ben Simmons and Joe Ingles, are playing in the NBA this season.
“The significance of this announcement for basketball in Australia and the NBL can’t be overstated,” said NBL executive director Larry Kestelman.
“Hosting an NBA team in Australia has been a long-held dream for everyone at the NBL, and to see this initiative finally come to fruition after a 15-year journey shows that much can be accomplished when you ‘dream big’.”
American sports are flocking to overseas markets, with Melbourne Cricket Ground named in February as the host for the first National Football League regular season game in Australia in 2026.
The Los Angeles Dodgers and Arizona Diamondbacks played a regular season baseball double-header in Sydney in 2014, while American ice hockey sides Arizona Coyotes and Los Angeles Kings played pre-season games in Melbourne in 2023.
In January, NBA teams San Antonio Spurs and Indiana Pacers played two of their regular season games at the Accor Arena in Paris, one of the venues for the 2024 Olympics.
The league’s global expansion has also included a confirmation of two pre-season games annually for the next five years at casino operator Sands China’s Venetian arena in Macau.
The first contests, scheduled for Oct 10 and 12 after the Australia games, will pit the Brooklyn Nets against the Phoenix Suns.
The deal will mark the league’s return to the Chinese market following the spat over the 2019 Hong Kong protests. REUTERS, AFP
