Shooting the Breeze with David Robinson at Basketball Without Borders Like it's No Big Deal

When the Philadelphia 76ers drafted Melbourne-born swingman Ben Simmons, it brought the number of Aussies currently playing at the highest level in to 11. Three Australians are active in the WNBA, while an all-time high of eight are in the NBA. When you add up all the Australian kids playing high school and college ball in the US, it's clear that we're slowly becoming a hotspot for elite hoops talent.

Last month, the NBA, FIBA, and the NBL hosted the first ever Basketball Without Borders held in Australia. At the four-day event, 45 boys from 17 countries across Asia got to learn directly from players, legends and coaches, including Australians Aron Baynes (Detroit Pistons), Dante Exum (Utah Jazz), Joe Ingles (Utah Jazz) and Patty Mills (San Antonio Spurs). BWB Asia 2016 also included a girls camp for the top female players in Victoria and a Jr. NBA camp for local youth.

Ben Clement took a camera and a notepad and talked to some of the people on hand.

So how's the camp been so far?
Yeah, camp was really fun. It's great. There's a bit of a language barrier but, nah, it's really good fun with everyone just playing basketball 'cause everyone understands basketball really. We all know how to play, obviously, but the language barrier is the only thing. But it made it interesting and probably made it a lot more fun.

What's the biggest thing you've learned over the last four days here, especially hanging out with some of these experienced players and stuff?
Definitely clarity with how you talk. On the court and on the sideline, you have to be able to get your point across really clearly. I definitely think it's improved my leadership skills that I can take back to Sydney.

Who were some of your coaches?
Well, the main coach we had was the assistant coach for the Utah Jazz. So, I was with him most of the week and I think it was the Sacramento Kings assistant who did the bigs. I think those two were the main ones that I was in contact with. And then Dave Johnson was helping out with my stuff. Yeah, what's it like hanging out with him?
It was pretty cool. I did dunk on him once. [chuckle] He was just standing there pretending to contest and then… That was cool. Did anyone film that?
I hope so. I hope there's a video of it somewhere.

Can you talk about your goals for the future?
The NBA is definitely the goal. I wanna go through the college system. I'm going to an AOU tournament next week in America, so I'm flying over soon as I get back from this, to go straight over to the US and play some more basketball.

Last question. What's the biggest difference you've noticed between US basketball and basketball here in Australia?
Just from here, I know it's a lot faster. They push the ball up the court a lot more. Players a lot more athletic. I feel Australia is really structured, everything we do. If we're running sets and stuff, we know exactly where we have to be every single play. That's the main difference. They're just free-flowing and we're structured. Both have their benefits.

How are you feeling?
Not too bad.

The flight didn't get you?
No no no. It was long, but it was good.

I understand you brought your sons out. Are you gonna get them out on the court?
Yeah. See, now that I don't run up and down the court as much, maybe I'll use them as an example on what they should do.

So what's your aim for the weekend, what are you looking for, what are you aiming to show the kids or tell the kids?
Really, just encourage 'em. I think the biggest improvement for a kid comes when they find a coach who believes in them and draws something out of them that they'd didn't even really know they had. That's what I wanna be for these kids. I wanna say "Hey look, you don't even recognize what you have to offer sometimes, you just come out here and get it and who knows where it leads."

Like sparking something, right?
Yeah, I didn't know I was gonna be playing in the NBA, so you never know.

Did you expect how game seven went down?
No, I did not expect it. I don't know if anybody really expected that, but game seven is epic and for LeBron to do what he did was ridiculous.

So how was that?
It was so much fun.

Yeah, you were really fast out there.
Thank you!

How did you get approached to come down to BWB
I'm not too sure. I've been to America a few times, done camps and stuff. So when I heard about this, I just thought it's another great experience and opportunity. So yeah, I was on to it.

Is it pretty cool to get to work with some of the best players and people from the NBA?
Yeah, it was awesome. Just their knowledge, and how they read the game is really, really, really good.

What's the biggest thing you've kind of learned over the last few days?
Probably just to be unpredictable, really like, change of pace, change of speed, different moves of both sides of my body.

What's your next step?
So, I play at high school and I play rep, and then Youth League again the Big V, but yeah, definitely looking into college, definitely getting on that process. So it's all exciting.

What do you notice mostly about, say American basketball compared to Australian basketball, is there a major difference?
For me, it's just the different feeling, different atmosphere. It's a lot of intensity, rough, but it's really good. I strive on that, so it's awesome.

So what are wanting to impart to these kids?
You don't want to overload them. You just give them one or two things they can take back and work on with their respective coaches. It's not coming in to try and give them an NBA offense or anything like that, but just a few skill pointers.

You've only been here for a little bit, but is there any noticeable differences in the culture of basketball here compared to America?
Well, I guess obviously Australia, football, rugby, those things are at the forefront. I think that's why we're here, to try to get a little bit more excitement about basketball. Obviously there's a lot of talent here, you can see that from the influx of guys in the league now, so that's a good thing. But saying that, I saw the excitement from watching the news about the big rugby game last night, yeah.

Yeah that's big time.
So we're never gonna overtake that but at the same time, maybe we can…

How's it been the last four days?
It was pretty good. Really exciting camp. It's an amazing opportunity and you just have to enjoy it.

How did you get into it?
It happened at Nationals. Australia's under-18 Nationals we're playing, then I missed out for the Australian under-17 World Championships team, and then I was kind of disappointed. And then a few weeks after, I got an email saying I'm invited to this camp.

Sweet.
Yeah, I couldn't believe it at all. Then I just saw the names of the NBA players, I was like, "This is a dream come true." Meeting David Robinson, Bruce Bowen and the Australian guys. Joe Ingles, Dante, and yeah. It was amazing.

How about your plans after this? Will you try to follow the US college path?
Yeah, yeah. After year 12 I wanna go to college. So, after this camp I'm just gonna take everything I have learned, take it on board and then go and work hard and yeah. And then see what I become.

Yeah, that's it man. What's the main thing you've learned from the last four days?
The main thing I have learned is to take everything on board. New players, take them on board so you're able to play together in game situations.

That's cool. All right. So, who's your favourite NBA team?
I go for the Cavs. LeBron.

Cavs oh, dude likewise.