You & I are probably in the extreme minority #45 hoops since most people I know who are into basketball (which is itself a small minority) are huge NBA fans but couldn't care less about the NBL.

I follow NBL more.

As for following basketball, yes far less people follow it then play it. I am going to get NBA TV, as well as NBL.TV and 6ers tickets so I can follow NBA as well next season

I used to, well, about even. But with the move to summer, followed by the decrease to 40 min games, I have started to lose interest.

i very rarely follow the nba, a bit of interest now with some aussies involved.

i was a big fan in the Bird Vs Magic era......

I generally follow NBL far more than NBA, but as a Spurs fan, it has been very NBA-centric for the past two years

Always been an nbl fan more, but find myself enjoying nba a lot more recently. Much more of an entertaining league.

I can only speak for myself and some teenage boys who are close to me and have been hoopers pretty much all their lives.

I find the NBL less appealing, obviously the NBA is packaged better and with the online presence, TV and media interest in the NBA overpowering the NBL, even in this country it is hard not to follow NBA first.

Most teenagers that are into hoops these days are online, following the NBA, IMO... Ask them to list the top 5 players in either league and you will know what I mean!

Unless there is an NBL team in your town/city, I predict the amount of people choosing NBL over NBA would be in a huge minority.

Agree also, the change of season screwed the NBL!

I follow both, although I can't have any attachment to a particular NBA team because I'm not from there. I'm not one of those people that just "goes" for a team like Manchester United or the LA Lakers on the other side of the world because they decided they liked their jerseys one day.

So that's the attraction to the NBL for me, having a hometown team that you can get behind 100%.

That said, I follow the NBA as a whole probably more closely than I do the NBL as a whole, it's just that I'll never have a team that I can call my own. I could talk to you at length about even the fringiest of fringe players on any NBA roster but would probably struggle to tell you who the bench guys on the Sydney Kings are and what their games are like.

Part of that probably comes down to the fact that there's only so much "following" of the NBL you can do: little to no mainstream media outlets, a couple of third-party blogs that are updated intermittently at best, and a woefully pathetic league-run website.

Iv got a question for you all regarding the Nbl
someone further up mentioned that the number of people interested in basketball is few

Now I know there are huge ammounts of AFL fans etc and general population who dont know anything about the NBL because the media attention is very low BUT

I thought that basketball was one of the most participated sports all year round.

You only have to go out to district basketball to see a large amount of games being played every week in SA including Senior div 1-5 and Youth League has loads of divisions and then there is junior team and domestic comp all over the place

Surely with the amount of people participating in the sport here locally it should be easy to get 8k people to 36ers games and easy to get people watching on Chanel 10

What am I missing?

Anon, it's quite simple.

AFL = Money

NRL = Money

NBL = Debt

The culture of football/league in this country has been built over 100 years and is entrenched into the community, basketball is the other world game but like soccer it is not rated by the media unless our national team is playing...

^^ my thought,thousands of aussies in sydney for example who play or watch basketball at a lower level, but the kings only average 5,000 a game??
I really would love the nbl to be bigger here, and have what other leagues have to follow my team. (for example, media coverage, ect).

I agree Bear and I made the point that basketball gets very limited publicity but my question is about the amount of the SA population which actually play the game every week and most of the year round.

They don't need the sport to be well publicized to know that it's a great game and to have some desire to watch the 36ers for the summer period?

I don't know the figures but I would have thought that even with Oz Kick doing good things, more school kids would play basketball than Footy? Less physical & indoor sport etc

I cant quite see why this does not translate to bums on seats for NBL - perhaps NBL players don't work hard enough at doing school visits etc

Perth have sold out there venue nearly every week last season so I reckon with a small amount of local marketing there is plenty of interest in NBL basketball

I reckon forget about reaching other markets just make the most of the existing number of people who already know about & love the game

I follow the NBL very closely, but dont really get interested in the NBA until playoff time when I absolutely love it.

This year with some new work I picked up I had to follow NBA regular season more closely and I found a lot of it boring, too many meaningless games diluting the good ones.

^ Agreed, Paul. I've thoroughly enjoyed watching the Spurs, HEAT and Warriors in the playoffs, but only found myself checking the standings, box scores and reading articles very occasionally during the regular season.

The lockout was a turning point for me: NBL > NBA.

But to each their own.

@Anon, the reasons kids play hoops in huge numbers (I agree, more than pretty much anything else), are varied, but the cultural aspect remains.

You see kids hang around to watch the seniors play footbal, but basketball is different, it doesn't really offer that community based family friendly environment to stick around the social club, have a pie and a drink and watch the next game.

This is of course subjective because footy has a big oval, plenty of room and a social atmosphere at almost every club, not saying hoops isn't social, it just isn't the same.

So, it's play and go somewhere else. To watch the senior team in basketball (NBL level I am referring to) is a special event, it is more often detached from the juniors and let's face it the summer season of NBL offers too many other things to do.

Bringing back the NBL to winter would (IMO) get crowds back because those who want to go out and watch hoops wil do it, they want to watch a game indoors during winter, that doesn't do for 3-4 hours so they can have dinner or go and socialise or get kids to bed at a decent hour...

Two aspects here:

1. At local club level hoops isn't generally as social, community focused.

2. At NBL level we are in the wrong season.

Typo's, my bad sorry...

One more thing, Perth sell out games because they are successful, so this is not a great example IMO, not every club can be so successful.

That leaves other reasons to go to the NBL, you are right about not seeking out crowds in obscure places Anon, they are there, they are just too busy doing summer things and would come back in droves if we went back to the correct season.

Definitely take more of an interest in the NBL on a day-to-day basis. Only really keep up with the Spurs and Warriors in the NBA, purely for the Aussie factor. Though, like paul mentioned, I definitely take more of an interest in the NBA come playoff time.

Hate to sound like everyone else here.. But SAME! I follow the NBL, watch every game, every boxscore, every story etc.

NBA throughout the season i'll check boxscores, standings and daily highlights every other day or so. I'll watch maybe 2 games a week until playoff time when I watch every game.

I used to watch NBA games daily and follow it as much, if not more than the NBL. But over the past 10 years the NBA has really turned soft and almost emotionless. Flops, tech fouls for farting in the direction of another player, techs for trash talking etc. Meh.

^skull +1

I also followed NBA in the 1980s, through the tv show Bill Palmer hosted, which showed playoff replays. I started to follow the Lakers because my wife followed the Celtics and they were teh teams we saw playing each other all the time!

That led me to go to an NBL game in 1984 then I started following the 36ers and NBL. I'd stopped following NBA within a couple of seasons and have followed NBL ever since.

NBA games mean nothing to me as I don;t identify with the league or the teams. NBL I can identify with.

I too follow the NBL over the NBA. I cant get attached to any team in the NBA - except for the Aussie connections - and maybe teams with more global squads - like the spurs (not just coz of aussies).

I also prefer Europe ball more than the NBA, because many Aussies are there but also especially when big clubs like Partizan are playing Barca or someone - the crowds are intense like football (- and on this note - i also prefer A-league to Euro-leagues).

As a football fan first I can sympathise with the basketball fans on this site when it comes to little or no mainstream coverage of the NBL.

The constant chopping and changing in the league is like the old NSL - perhaps BA should have suspended the league and restructured and rebranded when they had the chance a couple of years ago - or do it properly today.

Like football, basketball too needs to tap into the latent support from those playing the game - but it is hard turning a doing/playing-activity into a watching/entertainment activity.

I have always and will always love my NBL, it's history and practically everything in it, except them pesky New Zealanders... And NBL.tv is the greatest thing ever, I watched every game, even wildcats games I seen live, I couldn't be happier. I'll keep trying to find out more news and past history on this fascinating league!

As for the NBA, I can put most players with the team he plays for and id watch a game on free to air if it was on but I couldn't be stuffed looking for it online and see a player score 32 points after being sent to the free throw line 20 times... Too soft.

Oh and the stupid fucking NBA took away my beloved Seattle Supersonics.

NBL forever!!!

yep agree with most of the people here! Nbl is so much better to follow if you aussie! Its so hard to get pumped up about a team winning on the other side of the world, when i can't even watch it live on tv
Love following the nbl and watching every single game!

Yeah, as far as basketball goes I follow the NBL almost entirely. Don't really have an NBA team (when I grew up over in the US I was *cough* more interested in NHL and the Islanders than basketball).

Perth Wildcats for me is a team that represents the city and the west, so it means something to me. Some NBA teams represent their cities, but they aren't my city (and some just represent owners, bleh).

I'm into NBL mainly but usually check NBA scores and highlights. Proud Perth supporter

Just bought my Perth Wildcats membership for next season, it means much more to me than jumping on a plane to watch a game in America!

Have lived in Perth and NZ big NBL fan definitely follow NBA but no fave team. Basketball is big here in Perth just hope NBL gets back to its 90s popularity.

I have no interest in NBA. Too complex. cant keep up with it if i tried. Might be too old?