NBA stars Josh Giddey, Dyson Daniels invest in CourtSide centre in Port Melbourne

Aussie NBA stars Josh Giddey and Dyson Daniels have tipped their cash into groundbreaking basketball centre set to open in Port Melbourne this month.

Aussie NBA stars Dyson Daniels and Josh Giddey have tipped their earnings into building a groundbreaking new basketball centre in Port Melbourne. Picture: Mark Stewart

Aussie NBA stars Josh Giddey and Dyson Daniels have invested in an Australian-first “Disneyland for basketballers” they hope helps net more US matches for Melbourne – maybe even at the MCG.

CourtSide — a giant purpose built basketball centre with multiple courts, elite coaching, 2700 sqm of retail space, a sports bar, cafe and restaurant, gym and production studios — will soon open in Port Melbourne.

Aimed at everyone from beginners to professional players, the 10,000 sqm centre will likely to be the future home of a WNBL team and training base for the New Orleans Pelicans when they play historic matches in Melbourne this year.

Melbourne born-and-bred Giddey and Bendigo export Daniels have tipped some of their sizeable earnings from the Chicago Bulls and Atlanta Hawks into a development they expect will spread to other Australian cities.

Australian NBA stars Dyson Daniels and Josh Giddey. Picture: Mark Stewart

The business has secured deals with Nike, Adidas and Jordan among the brands stocked in the shop onsite.

In exclusive interviews with the Herald Sun, Giddey and Daniels said they had put their money on the line, convinced the giant sporting precinct would be a game changer in Australia.

Daniels tipped it would draw NBA teams to Melbourne regularly and hoped two US squads were next year sent to Victoria to cash in on the huge popularity of basketball in Australia’s sporting capital.

“It’s obviously more appealing to a team when they can come out and have a good facility to use, especially during the pre-season when they’re trying to get the guys on the floor and get their chemistry together,’’ he said.

The business has secured deals with Nike, Adidas and Jordan among 24 brands stocked in shops onsite and will become the first retail space to stock Daniels’ own clothing label Vouseti.

The new centre is set to open in Port Melbourne this month.

It will boast a showcourt with 300 seat grandstand, two more full sized courts, two half courts and six shooting bays, a 250 sqm gym, sauna, ice and hot baths, locker rooms and storage space for 55,000 basketball shoes.

Daniels hoped regular season NBA matches could be staged in Melbourne and vowed to try and bring his Atlanta Hawks to town.

“You do regular season games in Paris and stuff, so hopefully Australia’s one of the next on the list to host a regular season NBA game,’’ he said.

“It would be cool.’’

CourtSide is a new 10,000 sqm basketball facility in Port Melbourne. Picture: Mark Stewart

The centre boasts state of the art facilities. Picture: Mark Stewart

The NBA’s Most Improved player and Defensive Player of the Year runner up said: “I’ll have to put a word into Atlanta’’ about visiting Melbourne.

“Maybe we can, you know, play at the MCG one day and sell out that ground.

“But it’ll be tough watching from those bleaches.’’

CourtSide director and co-founder Chris Moore said: “A lot of people refer to it as Disneyland for basketball fans.

“It’s got everything.’’

Giddey said he would use the “world class’’ facility “every day” while in Australia.

“It’s an unbelievable space and facility and I don’t think anything like this has been done before in the world, where you combine retail, cafe, recovery, basketball, weights all into one area,’’ he said.

“It’s going to be a massive attraction not just for people from Melbourne but from around the country and then where tourists come from overseas it will be the hub of basketball.’’

Yarraville export Giddey was also keen to bring the Bulls to his hometown.

“I’d love to see 10 teams out here – the more the better,’’ he said.

“Because America is so far, if more NBA teams could start making their way to Australia … they would sell out whatever arena they played in.’’

Originally published as NBA stars Josh Giddey, Dyson Daniels invest in CourtSide centre in Port Melbourne