Richard Jefferson hails NBL as ‘fastest-growing league’

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NBA champion-turned-broadcaster Richard Jefferson says the NBL is the fastest-growing league in world basketball and believes the arrival of Cole Anthony at Melbourne United will encourage more elite talent to consider Australia, writes Michael Randall and Matt Logue from Code Sports.

Jefferson, a teammate of LeBron James and Sydney King Matthew Dellavedova on Cleveland’s 2016 championship team, said more lucrative contracts have added to the lure of the Australian league, which offers living conditions as good as anywhere in the world.

“For a guy like Cole Anthony to come over here and there’s a lot of (NBA) players that have gone on to play in European countries or play here where they just find the game more enjoyable,” Jefferson, in Melbourne this week for ESPN NBA promotion and to watch his beloved LA Rams take on San Francisco 49ers at the MCG, told Code Sports.

“It’s like, ‘hey, I can come over there, I can play, I can make a good amount of money but also be the man’.

“I think Australia is probably the fastest growing when you talk about conversations inside the basketball community.

The NBL has built its recent reputation on developing NBA draft picks through its Next Stars program — like LaMelo Ball (Illawarra), Josh Giddey (Adelaide) and Washington Wizards No.2 pick Alex Sarr (Perth).

Jefferson says his good mate Dellavedova is a prime example of a player who used the NBL to springboard his way back to the NBA.

For the full story on Code Sports Basketball, click here.