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NBL Goes "Back to the Future"
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Monday, June 26, 2023
The NBL has gone back to the future with Mitsubishi coming on board as a major partner for NBL24.
The NBL has gone back to the future, with Mitsubishi coming on board as a major partner for NBL24.
Mitsubishi was previously the naming rights sponsor of the competition from 1992-2000 and, 23 years later, they have returned as a key supporter of Australian basketball.
Plenty has changed in the competition since the last time the three red diamonds adorned an NBL court.
RELATED: Mitsubishi Drives NBL Growth
Teams and all-time greats have come and gone, the next generation has soared and thrived, and the talent levels of the competition are – at least according to three-time NBL MVP Bryce Cotton – at an all-time high.
Stephen Quartermain was the voice of the NBL in that golden 1990s period, including the near decade Mitsubishi was on board, and had his say on Cotton’s comments.
“It’s impossible to compare eras whether you’re talking about cricket, football, basketball, whatever,” Quartermain said at the launch of the Mitsubishi x NBL partnership.
“You live in your era, and back then I was so intimately involved – I’m not so much these days.
“The talent on television today are unbelievable athletes and I’m sure they would have been superb back in the 90s, but look at the guys from then.
“Gaze, Copeland, Bradke, Vlahov, Crawford, Bolden, you could just go on, and on, and on.
“It was a great era full of great personalities on and off the court.
“It would be great to somehow arrange a time machine to watch them go up against each other.”
Mitsubishi’s re-commitment to the league is just the latest in a long line of exceptional growth opportunities for the NBL.
Over the past decade or so the NBL has established itself as one of the go-to basketball competitions in the world outside of the NBA. It's a far cry from the days where the league was threatening to go under.
“It was with a lot of sadness, even though I was out of the sport, to see what happened to the NBL,” Quartermain continued.
“It was really upsetting because I’d formed so many friendships and had formed a lot of love for the competition.
“As I saw it slowly coming back with Larry getting involved – and what a legend he’s been for the sport – it’s juts been great to sit back and watch this resurgence.
“A lot of people regard it as the second-best competition in the world, so what more could you ask for?
“It’s back to the future for me. Mitsubishi were fantastic supporters of basketball back in those amazing, heady days.
“It was brilliant back then, and for them to come back and support basketball now just shows where the game is at.”
