The last time I watched the NBL it was the Andrew Gaze era. SuperCoach changed all that

I hadn’t watch the NBL since the Andrew Gaze and Shane Heal days. Now I’m taking my son to United games and watching Phoenix on Kayo because of one reason.

I’ll just play SuperCoach NBL to fill in some time between seasons.

I can’t be the only one who thought that would be the case when I signed up for our newest SuperCoach format last year.

Anyone who plays SuperCoach AFL - and to a lesser extent NRL - will know how ardent a fantasy coach I am.

I spend hours upon hours studying in the pre-season to try and get my AFL team right and get bragging rights over Al Paton, The Phantom, Dan Batten and Patch.

But SuperCoach NBL was completely new ground for me.

I hadn’t watched much basketball since Andrew Gaze and Shane Heal.

I hadn’t really followed the NBL since the days of Andrew Gaze, Leonard Copeland and Shane Heal dominating the league and I was more across who played for South East Melbourne Magic and Melbourne Tigers than the current rosters of any team.

But, as is often the case with SuperCoach, it wasn’t long before I was hooked.

I started out following the players in my team and their fortunes.

And then before long, I was tuning into Sunday double headers on Kayo on my day off and loving what I was watching.

On a recent Sunday a few weeks into the current season, my wife asked me why I was so focused on Kayo when the football season had ended.

Of course, I was watching a New Zealand Breakers vs. South East Melbourne game and hoping Derrick Walton Jr - who I had faded - wouldn’t go bananas.

The SuperCoach effect in full swing.

I know who Jaylen Adams is now. Picture: Getty

If you had asked me this time last year who Parker Jackson-Cartwright, Jaylen Adams or even Next Star Alex Saar were - I would have had no idea.

But a few weeks into the 2023-24 season, I was tuning in to New Zealand Breakers games to watch PJC dominate and rack up SuperCoach points for my team.

What started out as a flirtation with SuperCoach NBL turned into an appreciation of just how far Australia’s professional basketball league has come in the past few years.

I even put my money where my mouth is, making the trek to John Cain Arena three times to watch Melbourne United play with my son, who has never been a big hoops fan but was quickly sucked in by the atmosphere and non-stop action.

I know there are other AFL and NRL fans who have similarly fallen for the NBL as a result of playing SuperCoach.

One hit me up on social media this week to tell me he watched NBL for the first time at the weekend to cheer on his SuperCoach players.

And he’s definitely not alone.

I put my money where my mouth is and attended games at John Cain to cheer on United with my son. Picture: Getty

There are more than 18,000 teams already signed up for SuperCoach NBL this year but the best part is, you can join at any time and there’s $500 up for grabs every round - which is doubled if the round winner is subscribed to SuperCoach Plus.

There is also a major prize to the best SuperCoach player of the year - a magnificent Mitsubishi.

Get involved today by heading to supercoach.com.au and signing up.

I’m certainly no basketball expert and after two rounds, I am sitting 246th overall.

But more importantly, I’ve found another summer sport to follow through SuperCoach.

Who knows? I might even see you at a few United games this season.

SIGN UP TO SUPERCOACH HERE

Originally published as The last time I watched the NBL it was the Andrew Gaze era. SuperCoach changed all that