US basketball success story Ryan Broekhoff still has soft spot for Frankston

FRANKSTON born Ryan Broekhoff has ­realised a childhood dream by signing a two-year deal with the Dallas Mavericks. But he won’t forsake his former suburb.

VICTORIA’S latest US basketball success story has declared his love for Frankston and claimed the place he grew up gets a “bad rap”.

Frankston born-and-bred Ryan Broekhoff recently ­realised a childhood dream by signing a two-year NBA deal with the Dallas Mavericks.

He will soon move to Texas to play in the richest and most famous basketball league in the world, against the likes of LeBron James and fellow ­Victorians Ben Simmons and Matthew Dellavedova.

RYAN BROEKHOFF DEAL WITH DALLAS MAVERICKS

RYAN BROEKHOFF WANTED TO PLAY IN THE NBA

But after returning to Victoria before his US move, he told the Herald Sun that Frankston would always be home and he was determined to help give the much-maligned beachside suburb a good name.

Dallas Mavericks signing Ryan Broekhoff on his beloved Frankston Beach. Picture: Michael Klein

“It gets a bad rap, Frankston,’’ he said. “It’s a beautiful area right by the bay.”

Broekhoff, 27, spent his junior career with the Frankston Blues and the past two years playing in Europe, hoping his NBA dream was still alive.

His $2.4 million contract with Dallas made him the ­second Frankston export to make it to the NBA, behind Melbourne United premiership big man David Andersen.

Broekhoff said his formative years in Melbourne helped shape his never-say-die attitude. “I still call the Frankston area home,’’ he said. “My parents are now a little further south in Mornington, which is 10 minutes down the road from Frankston Stadium.

“But that area will always be home and always hold a special place in my heart because it’s where I grew up and the area that helped shape me into the person I am today.’’

Ryan Broekhoff playing for Australia at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games. Picture: Christian Petersen/Getty Images

Broekhoff will be one of at least nine Australians playing in the NBA next season — and a member of Australia’s side for a blockbuster ­series against Team USA in Melbourne next year.

He said the enormity of making it to the NBA was still sinking in. “I haven’t had time to kind of take a step back and (say), ‘Wow, this is really ­happening’,” he said.

The Geelong fan will get married in Bali next month before moving to Dallas, which he visited for the first time last Thursday to house hunt.

Frankston “still feels like home’’. “It still feels very much like I remember growing up,” Broekhoff said. “It’s a beautiful part of Australia.’’

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