NBA All-Star 2022: Latest news and updates on all the Aussies in action in the US league’s showcase event

Making it in the NBA was once a pipedream for NBL players. Now a host of stars who graced the Aussie league are taking centre stage at the NBA All-Star weekend.

Lanard Copeland will feel like a proud dad pacing the sideline when he sees the strong NBL connection at this year’s NBA All-Star Weekend.

The world was a difference place in 1992 when Copeland left America bound for Australia to sign with the Melbourne Tigers as the franchise’s star import.

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The global basketball community was Chicago Bulls mad as the mercurial Michael Jordan led the Bulls to their second championship, and Australia’s NBL was a blimp on the hoops radar.

“Plus, the internet wasn’t a big thing like it is now, so the average American had little to no knowledge of the Australian league,” Copeland said.

“So, it’s amazing to see so many former NBL players now making their mark in the NBA and at the All-Stars, because that wasn’t even a thought not that long ago.”

The NBL is taking over the NBA All-Star weekend.

Today, the NBL is a legitimate breeding ground for the NBA.

The league’s Next Stars program – introduced in 2018-2019 to contract overseas players and develop them in Australia to give them the best chance of being drafted into the NBA – has proven to be a successful stepping stone.

The concept has helped the likes of Terrance Ferguson, RJ Hampton, LaMelo Ball and Australia’s own Josh Giddey take the step to the world’s best league.

Throw in more experienced players using the NBL as a platform to the NBA via short-term stints, like former Sydney King turned Houston Rocket Jae’Sean Tate, and there is no denying Australia’s breeding ground status.

As a result, the NBL will have a strong presence at this year‘s All-Star Weekend, with Giddey, Tate and Ball all competing in the Rising Stars game.

NBL ➡️ #NBAAllStar

Former NBL Next Stars/Rookie of the Year winners Josh Giddey and LaMelo Ball + former @SydneyKings star/All-NBL First Team member Jae'Sean Tate are bound for All Star weekend in Cleveland as part of the Rising Stars Challenge 🙌#NBLxNBApic.twitter.com/ovn6CsZJ4R

— The NBL (@NBL) February 2, 2022

Giddey also has a spot in the Skills Challenge while former Illawarra Hawk Ball is the first NBL player to play in the All-Star game.

Then there is Boomers veteran and ex-Melbourne Tiger Patty Mills – who is enjoying a career-best shooting season with Brooklyn and has been named in the Three-Point contest.

Copeland can’t wait to spend this weekend on his couch as he proudly watches the NBL contingent strut their stuff at the All-Stars in Cleveland.

“All these guys are putting on a show at the moment – it’s great to see,” he said.

“LaMelo is making the NBA his own, Giddey’s rookie season has been remarkable, and Tate is a great story to go to the Houston Rockets via a successful stint with the Sydney Kings.”

The NBL’s rise to respectability in NBA circles hasn’t come quickly.

It has taken time and patience to regain the world’s best league’s trust after the domestic league in Australia fell off a financial cliff prior to Larry Kestelman purchasing a majority stake in the competition in 2015.

Since then, Kestelman has set up the annual NBL versus NBA pre-season games while the two competitions work closely when it comes to recruiting talent.

Patty Mills will compete in the Three-Point contest at this weekend’s NBA All-Star Weekend. Picture: Getty Images/AFP

It’s a strong connection that the NBL boss freely admits he didn’t see coming when he bought an Australian league deep in millions of debt.

“When we took over the league, there was so much work to be done, it was hard to even think forward to having multiple former NBL players competing in All-Star weekend events,” Kestelman said.

“It is a credit to our clubs, partners and fans that the league is now in a position where we not only attract, but successfully develop, All-Star level NBA players.

“We now have nine former NBL players in the NBA this season, along with multiple coaches, while there are 27 players with NBA experience in the NBL this season.

“This showcases and highlights how much the talent level and professionalism of the NBL has increased.”

In a further sign of the NBL’s strengthening relationship with the NBA, Commissioner Jeremy Loeliger will be courtside at this weekend’s All-Star festivities.

Loeliger is meeting with several NBA executives about a range of topics, including more pre-season games, while he will also spend time with parents, agents, and coaches in a bid to sign the next wave of NBL Next Stars.

Giddey has become the poster boy for the Next Stars program this year following his record-breaking NBA rookie season with the Oklahoma City Thunder.

The 19-year-old Melbourne guard recently joined the legendary Oscar Robinson (1960-61) as the only other rookie in NBA history to record three straight triple-doubles.

Lanard Copeland during his NBL days with the Melbourne Tigers.

Copeland has vivid memories of a baby-faced Giddey attending every Melbourne Tigers camp from the time he could talk.

Giddey didn’t get involved in the drills at first as he was too busy being a kid and playing around courtside.

“But he always had a ball in his hands,” Copeland said.

“Josh was born in basketball. His dad Warrick was a great player in his own right while his mother Kim also played at a high level, so that has helped him a lot.

“But the biggest thing for mine is that Josh is so humble. He is confident, don’t get me wrong, but he isn’t arrogant, and he gets that from his parents.

“I remember Warrick didn’t crave the attention or the headlines when he played with us at the Tigers, even though he did a lot of the tough work that often goes unnoticed.

“Josh is the same and that will help him throughout his NBA career – I think Josh is going to be a great of the game – and it’s so good that he started his career in the NBL.

“The Australian league is a world-class and it’s great to see the rest of the world now sees it.”