The New Zealand Breakers and Illawarra Hawks both finished the regular season with 12 wins and 16 losses, but the Breakers are in a bigger market, so it makes sense that they got the nod over the Hawks. Melbourne is the only team out of the three teams selected that made the postseason.
LaMelo Ball's Australian team was not invited to play in preseason NBA games
For the third year in a row, Australia’s National Basketball League (NBL) will head over to the states to play a slate of NBA preseason games, the league announced on Wednesday. One would assume this year’s schedule would include the Illawarra Hawks because of LaMelo Ball’s international popularity, but surprisingly they’re not.
However, RJ Hampton’s New Zealand Breakers will take on the Memphis Grizzlies on Oct. 9 and the Oklahoma City Thunder on Oct. 11. Thunder center Steven Adams was born in Rotorua, New Zealand.
Here’s the full schedule below:
It’s Baaaaaack!!! #NBLxNBA Pt. III
5⃣ Games. 5⃣ Cities. 5⃣ x the Incredible
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— NBL (@NBL) July 3, 2019