Long-time NBL commissioner and pioneer of the Future Stars program Jeremy Loeliger departs league

People wanted the NBL to “disappear” when Jeremy Loeliger rolled up his sleeves alongside Larry Kestelman in a bid to save it. Nearly a decade on, Loeliger’s departing legacy is sealed.

The NBL wouldn’t be the juggernaut it is today without Next Stars pioneer Jeremy Loeliger, whose departure from the league was made official Friday.

Loeliger, 44, rolled up his sleeves with owner Larry Kestelman in 2015, working first as chief executive, then commissioner, to rebuild a league that was on its knees.

“That was our first season and I started in the role 1 July, having worked on the acquisition for Larry, which completed on June 30,” Loeliger told this masthead.

“It was scary. It was a bit like drinking the ocean to begin with and it was a pretty risky proposition.

“The NBL, at that point in time, probably had negative brand equity. It had gone so far into the mud that people were ready to see it wound up, disappear for a couple of years and have another crack later.

“It was in a pretty bad place and giving it that oxygen that it needed to catch fire was a lot of fun.

Jeremy Loeliger has departed the NBL. Picture: Getty Images

“The league, now, is what Larry and I sat and had a coffee and talked about a decade ago.

“I’m sure that we’ll continue to see a consistent evolution and success.”

Loeliger is the creative force behind the wildly popular NBL Next Stars program that has become a pipeline for local and international talent to make the jump to the NBA.

“There’s a number of things that have been pretty satisfying over the journey, but the one that sticks out at the moment is obviously the Next Stars program,” Loeliger reflected.

“Having been there at the ideation phase and responsible for its development and then moving on into the recruitment phase and going and signing players like LaMelo Ball that were just so transformative for the future of the league, to now seeing that prosper into having someone like Alex Sarr, who we probably wouldn’t have dreamt of when we first started Next Stars, drafted at pick No.2.

“For that to become the norm now, not the outlier, that we have guys who are going to be top-10 draft picks and household names, that’s been immensely satisfying and it’s also been a lot of fun to work on over the journey.”

He helped build the NBL’s relationship with the NBA, driving the league’s yearly trips to the US to take on teams from the big league in pre-season NBLxNBA contests.

Alex Sarr went pick two in the NBA draft. Picture: AFP

In 2015, the NBL salary cap was around $1 million. It’s almost doubled, with Loeliger’s innovations, including changes to marquee player rules, adding a third import and initiatives to attract talent from Asia and provide pathways for Indigenous players part of his legacy.

“We thought outside the square and re-engineered the salary cap system, which had a massive impact on how teams went about recruiting talent,” he said.

“It was two imports at the time, we went to three but we changed the marquee player rule to incentivise clubs to really think long and hard about, ‘well, do I go and get another import, or do I try to convince a Brad Newley to return from Europe and come back to the NBL?’

“That’s exactly what happened. There’s so much more of Australia’s and New Zealand’s best talent playing in the NBL than back in 2014 and that’s primarily the reason why.

“Another subtle change in the Asian player rule, to have Yudai Baba come to Melbourne United for two seasons, win a title, and now it’s so fun to see him out there playing for the Japanese national team at the Olympics.

“You had Zhou Qi who came out of China amidst a contractual dispute, played for South East Melbourne Phoenix and went home as one of the best players on his national team.

“Things like that are really, really satisfying and are going to have long term outcomes for the NBL.”

Kestelman paid tribute to his long-time right-hand man.

Jeremy Loeliger has been Larry Kestelman right-hand man. Picture: AAP

“Without Jeremy, the NBL wouldn’t be where it is today and I want to thank him for everything he has done over the past nine years to support my vision,” Kestelman said.

“Jeremy’s time at the league has been underpinned by exceptional innovation, unwavering dedication and an inspiring passion for basketball.

“He has helped transform the NBL into the second-best basketball league in the world, and the fastest growing sporting league in Australia.”

Loeliger said he handed in his resignation 18 months ago but has stayed on to ensure a smooth transition.

He won’t be going far, remaining as a consultant for the league as he spreads his wings, helping other organisations flourish.

“I said, coming into the role, this isn’t going to be something that I’m going to do forever,” he said.

“We have a really good handle on the league operationally, a new CEO, and new senior management and I’m continuing to consult on those projects where I feel like I add real value.

“I want to stay in the sports media and entertainment sector and my other work is picking up, which is great.

“The intention was I wanted to take what I’ve been doing over the last nine years and have a crack at helping others do something similar.

Jeremy Loeliger has been a valuable asset for the NBL. Picture: Getty Images

“I enjoy finding new solutions to what are constantly evolving new problems and finding new opportunities.”

Loeliger spoke to Code Sports after a visit to the hospital where the younger of his two basketball-loving sons (12 and 14) had been rushed for treatment on a broken wrist.

“The younger one’s got a broken wrist at the moment, we’ve just come from the hospital this afternoon and he’s going to be in plaster for the next eight weeks and is a little bit devastated that he’s going to miss rep tryouts,” he said.

“This was going to be his first real crack at making a rep team so he’s pretty gutted that he’s not going to get that opportunity.

“I feel really bad for him at the moment. You go through the highs and lows of sport, and he’s going through a bit of a low at the moment but he’s doing it with a smile on his face to his credit.

“My other son he’s nearing 6’5” now so, if he wanted to have a crack at it, then he’s probably got an opportunity.

“We’ll just let him do whatever he decides he wants to do, he plays socially and he seems to enjoy that and that’s all that I can ask for.”

Originally published as Long-time NBL commissioner and pioneer of the Future Stars program Jeremy Loeliger departs league