'This league isn't for everyone': The moment that 'sold' two-time NBA ...

He is a two-time NBA champion who played for six different teams in a career that spanned 10 years before later becoming one of the league’s most prominent broadcasters.

In other words, Kenny Smith has seen a lot of basketball — including the NBL, having been unveiled as the head of the league’s Next Stars’ player initiatives for North America back in April.

So, what does he think?

The 2024-25 NBL season begins in Perth with the inaugural HoopsFest from September 19 to 22. You can watch every game of the first ever NBL Hoopsfest LIVE on ESPN, via Kayo. New to Kayo? Start your free trial today >

“I would say that this league isn’t for everyone,” Smith told reporters in Perth on Thursday ahead of the NBL’s inaugural HoopsFest.

“But it is for great players and certain things.”

Such as?

Well, Smith brought up a name you wouldn’t expect — Serena Williams. You see, he was watching King Richard, the 2021 film chronicling the rise of the tennis superstar and sister Venus, having been asked to be a part of it.

“A week later I just watched the movie,” Smith explained.

“And I said, ‘Serena Williams would never have gone to college. She would have been too good to play tennis in college’.

“There are certain players that need to be pros tomorrow and that’s what this league is for. It’s for those kind of players.

“Now, if you think you’re Serena, you think you’re Venus, come on over. But if you think you need to develop at a slower pace, that might not be your option. But that sold me actually watching that movie.”

Carmelo Anthony, one of the NBA’s greatest ever scorers, is also obviously sold on the league having expressed interest in being part of an ownership group for a future expansion team.

The 10-time NBA All Star, who is a global ambassador for the Next Stars program, touched down in Perth on Thursday and was sitting courtside for the season-opener between the Tasmania JackJumpers and Melbourne United.

“It’s a great time for me to actually be over in this part of the world and actually understand exactly what’s happening, to have boots on the ground and to see it with my own eyes as opposed to having meetings and calls and talking,” Anthony said.

“I think we have a real opportunity to really observe and learn as we build what we’re trying to build over here. I’m excited.”

Anthony couldn’t share any details on potential expansion plans but did vouch for the NBL’s growing reputation in America, telling reporters the league is “definitely respected” — and stressed that respect is something that has to be earned.

“The conversations are happening more and more and the topic of the NBL is happening more and more,” he said.

“So when you start getting that fraternity, everybody talking and directed into one lane and one conversation, that’s when you know you have something.

“Because we, as a fraternity, just don’t agree... we have to believe in it. We have to understand what’s happening.

“We have to trust in it and in what’s happening and we have to see and agree with the actual vision in order for us to agree to that.”

So, what vision does Anthony have? What is it in the NBL specifically that he saw that made him want to be a part of what the league was building?

“I think it’s for the development aspect of it and the fact that there’s no other place, no other game in the rest of the world that is as close to the NBA as the NBL,” Anthony said.

“I’m talking about style of play, pace, the development aspect of it, understanding the game, having the chance to play with older guys or bigger and stronger guys. That’s very hard to do and not everybody can do that.”

Anthony will be meeting with the current crop of Next Stars players while he is down under and while he won’t have time to train with them on this trip, this is just the start of what the league hopes will be a strong working relationship with the 10-time All-Star.

Smith, who also plans to become a part-owner of the league’s next expansion team, shared one final message that he also gave to Brisbane Bullets players at training this week.

“Let’s not be remiss that yes, this is probably the only league that prepares guys to leave and go to the NBA,” Smith said.

“But the difficulty, I said this to the Brisbane team, I appreciate the difficulty it is to be a pro basketball player. Anywhere. There are, probably at this time, 1000 people in the world that get paid to play basketball.

“There’s 300 in the NBA and probably 700 around the world. To get paid, that is a very difficult feat. There’s millions and millions of people who want to get paid to play basketball. “So the talent level, not just that goes to the NBA, but just being a paid NBA pro or a paid NBL pro, that’s a difficult job to get and those guys should be acknowledged for that too.”

The 2024-25 NBL season begins in Perth with the inaugural HoopsFest from September 19 to 22. You can watch every game of the first ever NBL Hoopsfest LIVE on ESPN, via Kayo. New to Kayo? Start your free trial today >

NBL HOOPSFEST SCHEDULE

Friday, 20 September

Perth vs. SEM – 8:30pm AEST (RAC)

Saturday, 21 September

New Zealand vs. Brisbane – 6:00pm AEST (HBF)

Cairns vs. Illawarra – 8:30pm AEST (HBF)

Sunday, 22 September

Adelaide vs. Sydney – 2:30pm AEST (RAC)