The addition of Jonah Bolden to the 76ers’ summer league roster brought with it understandable excitement, as it gave the Australian another opportunity to interface directly with the team that drafted him 36th overall in 2017.

While the highly-motivated Bolden later would acknowledged he would have liked to make more of an overall impact in the six games the Sixers played in Las Vegas, the 6-foot-10 power forward impressed on the defensive end.

Below, check out a podcast interview conducted with Bolden during the Sixers’ stay on the strip, and read some of the excerpts from the conversation.

You played for Maccabi Tel Aviv this past season. You started all but three of the games you guys played. How do you think the season went? What was the biggest thing you felt like you came away with from the experience?

JB: "It was my first year in EuroLeague. Prior to that, I had been in Serbia. So, for me playing EuroLeague for my first year, I felt I did pretty good. Adjusting to the slower, but more physical game; I definitely have growth in that aspect with my position-wise, you know power forward and center, physicality is always high on the list. But that definitely helped, that year. Maturity. Once again, being overseas, away from everyone, you feel like you’re kind of on your own. You’re with your team, and there are also guys there that are there by themselves, so you’re not really isolated. But, you’re definitely put out there where you have to become more independent, you kind of grow up in a sense. On the court it helps. I was one of the youngest guys on the team. For me, kind of biting off the older guys and the vets that had been in EuroLeague for seasons, so it definitely helped."

Skillset-wise, how were you able to focus on your development with Maccabi?

"Shooting. Obviously my past couple [summer league] performances won’t relay that, but I think I took a big leap in my shooting and just consistency. The NBA (3-point) line is longer, and that’s an adjustment phase and that comes down to your form. And my form, I’ve focused on a lot more load; getting in my stance and shooting. It’s based on my legs and I think that was a main focal point with me last season with Maccabi - loading before I catch the ball and focusing on that consistency, catching and shooting the same way every time. [Also] just running the floor, that activity defensively. That’ll always be there, and just making sure that it is there and focusing on the offensive side rather than the defense."

You mentioned feeling isolated at times. FaceTime and phone calls are part of everyday life now, but to get something like that from Brett Brown this past year, how much did that help you?

"Definitely, it helps. I don’t know if he timed it correctly, or what he did, but he called at the right times throughout the season and spoke to me. Away from basketball, just how I’m doing person-to-person, human-to-human, rather than coach to player. That was always uplifting. The FaceTime definitely helped. Coach talked about what I needed to do coming into this season, into training camp. Focusing on my consistency with my shot, he was talking about when it’s short you know what it is - legs and just loading. Working on that consistency because that will differentiate me from a lot of players."

I’ve got to think that it feels pretty good to be a basketball player of Australian heritage these days. It’s amazing, the movement that has been coming up.

"It is on the come-up now. You look back five years ago, it was kind of still plateauing. But now it’s kind of hit the snowball effect, it’s starting to go up. You’ve got the Center of Excellence in Canberra. I think it’s got the NBA kind of thing. I heard it’s a big attraction for younger players there to get that exposure and get that development - practicing, playing, and going up against good competition. So [Australian basketball] is definitely on the rise. You see it within the [NBA], you see it within in Europe, you see it within guys. A lot of guys just being motivated. A lot of guys don’t even know you’re Australian sometimes and then you tell them, ‘Yeah, yeah. I’m Australian.’ And they say, ‘Wow.’ So, it’s definitely a good feeling."