CU360: What sort of feedback have you been getting from the NBA and people in America?

LK: The feedback is fantastic. I think everyone now recognizes that this is the second-best league in the world as a product compared to the NBA. You can argue that maybe some team in EuroLeague is better, and one day maybe we’ll find out who’s better or who’s worse. But I look at this as an overall product, and as a product of basketball, I don’t think anyone would argue that there’s any better product apart from the NBA, so they’re thrilled.

It’s great when your business is doing well and people know about this. When the business is doing well, you’re actually able to step back and look at this as a global game, and that’s what the NBA does. They want to see the game grow. They realize if we grow it here and we do well, it helps them, it grows the game. So they’re very appreciative and they said, “We have a very strong relationship and we’re now exploring other things. What else can we do together?” The No. 1 thing, the word trust, to me, is very very important. And I’m a “wog,” so you grow up with a bit of that. And contracts are great, but trust is probably even more important, and we’ve got a good amount of trust with them.

CU360: With the young guys, R.J. and LaMelo, coming down here, are you hearing any rumblings from the NCAA or anyone like that? It’s great for us, but is it becoming an issue?

LK: I definitely don’t expect a Christmas card from them. No, we haven’t heard from them, but we know they’re obviously not too thrilled about us cutting their lunch a bit. But we have a great proposition for them here. It’s actually not about us. Let’s call it how it is: they didn’t come here because they love Larry or the NBL. They came here because it’s good for them. We’ve managed to come up with a package that works for them quite financially, both how we’re going to look after them, what are we gonna do for them to make the draft and for them to become the best basketballers they can be. So it’s very very calculated, it’s very methodical both on the dollars, the process, the media.

LaMelo would be big in the U.S., not here, but because of the fact that he came here, it’s even bigger for him. And I think he’s going to get the right sort of minutes, he’s going to get the right exposure. We all obviously hope that he’s going to be able to live up to the standard here and gets a little surprise. When they come here, it’s not the Drew League and it’s not a cupcake league. So he’ll definitely find it challenging, but that’s actually part of the benefit interest for him. He’s going to get better very, very quickly. No one here is going to give an inch; it’s the other way around. I promise you, every team and every professional player will have his number on their wall. We’re going to show that kid what’s what, and that’ll actually set him up, I think, for success. In one year, I think he’ll grow up three years. So there’s a good reason why they come here and we’ve set it up specifically how we think they will be a success. And if they are, then that paves the way for future talent.

CU360: You’ve stuck to your word and delivered on what you said you were going to do, and basketball is at a level we’ve never seen in Australia before. Where do you see it going from here?

LK: The No. 1 thing I see right here, right now, is everyone putting in all the adjustment for more apparel. The growth of the sport still has to be from grassroots participation and then what product do we deliver? It’s not actually about us. It’s about what do the fans want to see? The barriers are not quite there. People can watch easily and get access to everything. So you’ve got amazing merch here. You can switch on the TV and watch NBA. You can’t hide.

So the growth for us has been that we have to keep improving our product. What that really means is the quality of the play. People understand now that what they go to see here at the NBL is worth seeing. That’s why the crowds, that’s why the TV, that’s why the people are watching. So we have to continue to work at our product, keep making it more interesting, keep making it more accessible. We just did a new TV deal. A part of it is actually releasing a lot of our digital rights. So we’ll be seeing half of the games on Viceland, the other half on ESPN. So part of it is the fact that we’re now partnering with people who are truly committed to the sport. And the other part of it is that we’re going to be doing a lot more digitally, and making sure that we deliver the product that people want to consume. I think the old days of just we’ll give it to you how we want to give it to you, that’s gone.

So what you’ll see from us this year, more so than in years past, you’ll see new partnerships with non-traditional media. You’ll see more delivery of product in all different formats, shorter formats. You’ll watch it how you want to watch it, when you want to watch it. We said this actually from literally Day 1, that we want to be the most accessible sport, and that’s what you’ll see from us this year and in years moving forward.