Maybe athleticism and interest? And it was generally less common then? Could ask similar questions about Bruton, Heal, Black, etc who also had similar ability.

I think Maher considered Europe towards the end of his career?

As brilliant as he was domestically, Brett never really sought out or was able to maximise his potential internationally. That included being anchored to the bench during the Olympic campaigns when most thought he could be an impact player.

Maher was a bit of a John Stockton lite, without some of the freakish elements of Stockton's game that would translate to NBA level. That is a character type that would have been very hard to convince an international/NBA team to invest in heavily, particularly given this was before the recruiters were more open to international prospects. Only a handful of Maher's contemporaries had meaningful stints overseas, and by all reports a number of those experiences were not that fun.

It is not on his wiki profile, but I recall Maher did spend one off season playing in Turkey as an import. But Maher had other priorities during his playing days including the tragedy which surrounded Hudson's illness.

Maher also had some niggling injuries along the way which limited his explosiveness and quickness, particularly in his latter years.

Maher deserves to be considered among the greatest Aussie men to play the game, but I think he would be pretty happy with what he achieved in the sport.

Heal did play in Europe isaac.

It is not on his wiki profile, but I recall Maher did spend one off season playing in Turkey as an import.

yep Brett played Euroleague, correct international movement is a lot more fluid nowadays.

Heal did play in Europe isaac.

People also forget that the NBL money in the prime of some of these players was very very decent.

Europe wasn't paying the big money it was back then either so there was no need to look overseas.

Ben Mel was making 300k playing in the NBL when the guys mentioned were in their prime.

Heal really on got an NBA look in after going off vs Dream Team 2

The NBA has gone very international since those days as well. It was an oddity for an NBA team to have an overseas player now its very normal. Thats an attitude adjustment from the NBA and not a slight on the NBL players of the day.

An almost all NBL team finished 4th in Sydney. That showed the calibre of talent that was around in the NBL. Remember Gaze barely made an NBA roster and he was the GOAT, now we mist likely would never have seen him in the NBL til he was ready to retire.

When people point out that Maher average 4.4 ppg in Europe it's important to note that he was bought into Besiktas later in the season not as a major piece but to bolster the second unit. While he was coming off a good NBL season where he may have been the one of the most valuable Australians in the competition, this was towards the twilight of his career and was after the tragedy that occurred with Hudson. He was playing at a high level still but his body was already showing signs of strain, his ability to contain faster guards by this point becoming an issue.

The answer to why he didn't go further is already listed many times, opportunities, partly due to the internet and partly due to scouts being open to Australians. When Heal got his chance with Minnesota following the 1996 olympics not many people believed any NBL player could move to the NBA, let alone a undersized shoot first guard who played no defence. Heal averaged 1.7ppg on 26% shooting, so he didn't exactly prove anyone incorrect there. And Heal was in front of Maher in the Boomers rotation (I would say incorrectly) so what chance did Maher have getting some interest?

In 1997 Ben Pepper, CJ Bruton and Paul Rogers got picked up as second round stash options and Anstey was drafted 17 by Dallas, the first true NBL to NBA leap (discounting Gaze with Bullets in 94 and Longley due to his college stop-over). Only Rogers sniffed the league in the second round options (but didn't play), but Anstey had a okay three year run. From there for Australians it's very sparse. Other than Gaze and Heal getting a second run both with the Spurs via Brett Brown being on staff the next Aussie in the NBA was Bogut. By this point the only Australians who have stuck in the NBA were bigs.

I would say by 2005 when guys like Penny got a shot with the change in league rules and the success of foreign guards such as Parker, Ginobili and the like opportunities were starting to open up. Penny also had a starring role on his national team, which helped with exposure.

Nowdays we have multiple guards in the league with different playing styles such as Delly, Patty and Exum and now a NBA global academy. Ferguson coming here last season helped further open up opportunities. 36ers games were crawling with scouts last season, and as a testament to how things have changed I am sitting in a bar in Khaolak right now sending links of videos to college coaches.

Now that's not to say Maher would have stuck in the NBA, but opportunities in the late 90s weren't as easy to come by as they are now.

Brett maher. Good player. Went overseas for a bit. End of story

Maybe, in the off season, Tanya had him doing all the jobs around home he didn't get to? Those lawns can get pretty long.

Anon 643276 - My job isn't related to coaching, it's my hobby (although a hobby I am passionate about). That shows how far scouting of international prospects have come, someone in my position in the 90s wouldn't have those kind of contacts or discussions.

I remember Maher was headhunted by former NBA player Gundars Vetra when he was coaching a team in his native Latvia but Maher ultimately decided to turn the offer down.

Anon 643291 - Great minds think alike :-)

IIRC there was a strong rumour that he would be signed by the Kings because his son(?) was having specialist treatment in Sydney & it would suit him to be based in Sydney.

Anyone confirm this?