The Utah Jazz, Oklahoma City Thunder and Phoenix Suns will host Australian National Basketball League teams this preseason, the NBA/NBL announced Monday:
The National Basketball Association (NBA) and the National Basketball League (NBL) today announced that the Sydney Kings, Melbourne United and the Brisbane Bullets will take part in the 2017 NBA preseason in October, marking the first time that NBL teams will travel to the U.S. to play against NBA teams.
The Sydney Kings will visit the Utah Jazz, featuring Australians Joe Ingles and Danté Exum, on Oct. 2 at Vivint Smart Home Arena, followed by Melbourne United meeting the Oklahoma City Thunder on Oct. 8 at Chesapeake Energy Arena. The Brisbane Bullets will visit the Phoenix Suns at Talking Stick Resort Arena on Oct. 13.
There were a record-tying eight Australian players on 2016-17 opening night NBA rosters, including Ingles and Patty Mills (San Antonio Spurs), both of whom previously played in the NBL.
Quotes on the games from NBL Executive Chairman and Owner Larry Kestelman, NBA Asia Managing Director Scott Levy, Utah Jazz President Steve Starks, Utah Jazz guard/forward Joe Ingles, Oklahoma City Thunder Executive Vice President and General Manager Sam Presti, Phoenix Suns General Manager Ryan McDonough and Sydney Kings Head Coach and five-time Olympian Andrew Gaze can be read in the following tweet:
Comments on @NBA vs. @NBL games from Larry Kestelman, Scott Levy, @StevenStarks, @Joeingles7, Sam Presti, Ryan McDonough and @AndrewGaze10. pic.twitter.com/RUuNkQewBn
— David Morrow (@_DavidMorrow) August 1, 2017
