The NBL is booming. The 2016-17 season was one for the ages and the numbers are there to back it up. 665,000 people attended NBL games throughout the season, a number which shatters the record for highest per game average over the course of a season.

After the 2013-14 season, the game was not in great shape as two teams were on the brink of going into administration and the TV rights deal was over. Someone needed to step in and right the ship and get the game back to where it belongs.

That man was none other than Larry Kestelman, the then Melbourne United chairman who decided it was time to take action and resurrect the league to its glory days. Whilst having to put the fan side of his game aside, Larry set about turning the game around and make it an entertainment package with a basketball game being played as well.

With the league in its grandest position since the 1990s heydays, NBL Executive Director Larry Kestelman spoke exclusively to ESPN to talk about the growth of the game and his vision for the future.

ESPN: The league was at a pretty low point before you took over, how have you managed to resurrect the league to what it is now?

Larry Kestelman: You have to understand the DNA or the background of the competition, so we actually were fans and corporates and sponsors before we got involved at league level or did anything from a business point of view.

So my family and I started going along to Melbourne Tigers games 14-15 years ago and loved it and understood what the game was about. The entertainment factor and the excitement so we really enjoyed it at first that way, as fans and as corporate sponsors and slowly we went on the journey of part owning Melbourne.

Then when Melbourne was in real trouble I stepped in with Michael Slepoy to resurrect the Melbourne team and part of my background is, because I'm not a basketball guy, I love the game and I love the sport and what it did for our family with the enjoyment that it brings, but if I'm going to do it I have to look at it as a business and I actually have to set it up in the right way and make it successful.

I can't just be a hobby owner, which unfortunately the truth of it is that a lot of team owners in the past that's exactly what they were. I think a lot of them were very smart, very shrewd business people but as far as basketball teams it was more of an idea about ownership and they were more than happy to contribute some dollars but not do a lot more.

So it's really been a long road back from owning the team and understanding what it takes to run a successful basketball franchise and then looking at the league and how that needs to be fixed.

It helped a lot to actually understand and rebuild a team first and then look at the league so when we took over Melbourne we were playing in front of 1,200 people out of the State Netball and Hockey Centre and now we've got the last seven games pretty much sold out of 11,000 people so it's been an interesting journey.

ESPN: You spoke about your family, the NBL provides one of the best family atmospheres for any professional competition you'll find. How important is it to have that as a critical role going forward?

Larry Kestelman: Our motto when I took over Melbourne and even now with the league, I try to encourage everyone and with Jeremy Loeliger coming on as CEO, the vision and the mantra that I have is to not even look at it as a game of basketball but look at it as an entertainment event.

Everything from the moment you come to the game, from the time you walk through the front doors or even before you walk through the front doors needs to be about entertainment and our target demographic and our business are families.

Photo by Michael Dodge/AFL Media/Getty Images

We don't unashamedly deny it that we're not for everyone, we're not white collar males we are a family sport that's what we do. Now we have a lot of white collars sitting courtside and in the corporate section but from a majority audience point of view we're straight out families.

It's mum and dad with their kids and they cheer like hell and they jump up and down and the music is pumping and we are in actual fact what a lot of sports try to pretend to be now. Everybody is trying to go back to a shorter format, more entertainment value, faster and higher scoring.

Sports like cricket, netball all of them are trying to come up with a way to be basketball and it's in our DNA to be that, we just have to make sure that we keep on doing it right.

ESPN: You've spoken about expansion within the league and how the plans were 3 to 5 years away but they're a little bit further advanced. How far off do you feel a new team is from joining the league?

Larry Kestelman: Look for me we're probably ready to start looking at those now, I thought it would take a little longer but I think we're actually ready to start looking.

I didn't think I'd want any expansion for probably up to five years because I wanted to make sure that the current clubs were solid and doing well, but looking at the audience numbers and attendance numbers and so on, I actually think we're in a pretty good position.

I'm now encouraging and getting proposals and looking out for potential expansion teams, at least in Melbourne.

That would probably be one of the first ones we'd look at and then we're talking to people in both China and Philippines. Now I can't say exactly when it will happen but what I will say is that we've got very good conversations, good support from Chinese leagues and Basketball Australia and I think as a league we're actually ready for expansion.

ESPN: Are you worried that expansion could potentially water down the current product?

Larry Kestelman: Yeah and I think that's why we shouldn't expand by more than one maybe two teams in any big hurry, I don't necessarily think we should be bringing three, four or five teams in.

I think expansion is great but for me it's very much about making sure the business model is right, it's who is actually going to be running that team. So we will do a very thorough due diligence to make sure that it is right and also as you said we've got an amazingly even and exciting competition and that's something that we don't want to ruin.

But at the same time we want to create more jobs for Australian basketball and more opportunities for Australian basketballers to come back from overseas and keep playing here and through expansion that's really the only way to do it.

ESPN: One of the bigger storylines this season was the signing of Terrance Ferguson, are you hoping the NBL becomes a breeding ground for these kids to come before they enter the NBA?

Larry Kestelman: I think we as a league are the closest thing from a comfort level to the NBA full stop. For them to come from the United States and go play in Perth, Melbourne or Sydney is not that big of a leap.

Language is the same, food is the same, stadiums are a little smaller but not dissimilar, atmospheres similar so the comfort level is definitely there. The NBA themselves are talking to us a lot more about how do we work closer together, what do we do more and more of together.

Brad Newley looks on dejectedly during the Kings' loss to Perth. Paul Kane/Getty Images

Having that and seeing people like James Ennis, Jordan McRae those guys come in here and go back and actually be a part of the NBA.

First out of the draft has been a huge success and I think you'll see more and more of that, the other side of it is people like Josh Childress and Josh Boone who are guys still pretty much in the prime of their career but just struggling to constantly stay in the NBA and they've found a home where they can keep their skills honed and still stay in contention for the NBA throughout their time with us.

You take a Terrance Ferguson, I don't think a lot of teams could handle having two or three as they are borderline, it's a big difference no matter how good of a kid you are out of high school. It's a very different league playing against men at the highest level but having potentially one per team here and there, amazing.

The development that those kids get by playing a season against men will be invaluable, the NBA recognizes it and I think you'll see more and more of that happening.

ESPN: Can the NBL become a competitive market for international players, along the same lines as the EuroLeague and Chinese leagues?

Larry Kestelman: We need to balance up, there are a few clubs in the EuroLeague that pay a lot more than we do and China also pay a lot more than we do for imports but having said that, for a lot of these guys and especially the really, really good ones they've actually made a lot of money playing already in the NBA so a part of their consideration is actually not just money.

Part of it is getting a good salary but also what environment am I in, and also am I still on the radar and being judged properly to go back to the NBA.

Because if you're a great import and you play in the Philippines or China or a particular team in Europe you may or may not be easy enough to stay on the radar and also get judged against how good you are.

For an import to score 50 points in China is not unusual but what exactly that means on a world scale is hard to gauge so their thinking now is, and a lot of agents are thinking this way, that Australia is a great place to come and play whilst still remaining relevant.

We give quite a lot of NBA guys the ability of an out-clause that if all of a sudden for a certain period they get called back up to the NBA, they can still potentially go. Each of those negotiations is different but we try to be as flexible as we can to allow for the best talent to come in, stay relevant and if someone gets offered a $5 or $10 million dollar contract we just shake their hand, wish them all the best and say glad we could help.

ESPN: You're heading back to the States, how far away do you think we are from seeing an NBL team compete in a pre-season match against an NBA team?

Larry Kestelman: My biggest goal and what I've been working on is actually for the NBL to work closely with the NBA and bring a pre-season game here, that's really our biggest goal.

I think by bringing the NBA to Australia, if done in the right way through the league and Basketball Australia taking it down to the grassroots that will again take our game to the next level of both participation, excitement, interest and so on.

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We also have a vision of our teams travelling over there and playing pre-season so everything is now focused, because of some delays with the player negotiations this year is going to be hard, but our discussions when I'm over there is to try and make all of that happen for the following year.

Potentially our teams travelling there, them bringing a couple of teams out here. I'll be meeting with a lot of the team owners and general managers of the NBA and figuring out who actually wants to come to Australia and then work with the NBA to facilitate that.

ESPN: AFL and NRL sides have aligned with netball teams, could you see an NBL team in the future aligning with an AFL or NRL side?

Larry Kestelman: I think it's a very logical model I really do. For example in Melbourne I would welcome it and to me if you're running a sports club and especially one that plays in the winter to continue on with a summer sport and run a 12-months of the year operation makes perfect sense.

I actually encourage it, whether or not it be rugby or AFL or whatever other sport if you've already got all the administration, the physios, the location and so on it makes perfect sense from a commercial point of view and also from a member engagement point of view.

You're all of a sudden talking to your members 12 months of the year, so I would definitely encourage any sport to come and have a chat to us because I think it's a very viable and smart commercial model.

ESPN: You mentioned the off-season, every competition takes a dip during that time. How do you ensure the NBL stays relevant through that time?

Larry Kestelman: We're going to do our best with keeping everybody informed on what is happening, we're also working on putting together a couple of smaller tournaments through the off-season and then we're going to do a pre-season.

We're actually working on another product to try and bring some teams from overseas to come play in our league, especially from Asia, so we already last year had two of the Chinese teams visiting as part of our pre-season and we want to take that to the next level and keep that excitement going.

Bullets Coach Andrej Lemanis speaks to his team in a time out. Mark Kolbe/Getty Images

We want to look at and see if we can partner up with some of the NBA individuals that are coming out, so that'll be part of our conversations as well. Once their season is finished come out, whether it's clinics or general promotions but we want to keep the sport relevant and in conversation and I think as every year that's gone on you'll see us getting better and better at that.

It's been a journey to fixing it and now we can put our heads up and look at what other opportunities are there.

We're going to take an All-Star team from the NBL and do a tour of China and the Philippines in the off-season so people will be able to follow that, we did China last year and we'll be looking to do that again.

There will be a number of other teams travelling on their own to Asia and we'll keep people posted across that as well. I think you'll find that there will be good quality and a good amount of content but it's not to say that we shouldn't do more.

I think you'll find that every year there'll be more and more relevance to the point that I think we could even make our season a little longer and maybe starting a little earlier.

Between NBA finishing and NBL starting there is quite a long period where basketball lovers are starved for basketball, maybe we can narrow that gap a little.

ESPN: During the season you compete against the Big Bash League, how do you try and maintain the NBL as the number one sport through that period?

Larry Kestelman: For us, attendance to the game has never really suffered, we did really well right throughout the summer with completely full venues and 90 percent capacity across most venues.

You either really love basketball or you love cricket or you love both but we're here to look after the fans and make sure that the proposition is the right one.

Our audiences are growing year on year, attendances have grown 25 percent the first year, 25 percent the following year and it's the same with our TV audience. Now, we're nowhere near the TV audience that Big Bash gets on free-to-air, because we don't have as many games on free-to-air.

My hope is now that we have proven ourselves, and what we do, is to get the game on to free-to-air and then we can truly compete as to who has the superior ratings.

I believe we're at a point now in our life that we deserve to be viewed by a bigger general audience.

ESPN: One of the big draw cards has been the NBL App, giving the fans the accessibility to every game and an inside look into the league thanks to a revamp of the site. How do you continue to grow the media side of the game?

Larry Kestelman: I think the way people consume information in general has changed, I think rich short content is important. People want to know more as they're much more curious, so for us the focus in the future will be more and more on that.

We want people to know and understand the players better and know their history, understand the challenges and the hardships, or the successes, so that when they're watching the actual game they feel like they know the players a lot more.

Kevin Dillard of the Breakers. Chris Hyde/Getty Images

The whole point of getting more and more information about them is a huge part of our future and working with companies like yourself (ESPN), we want to bring the profile of the players back up.

What we're going to do is, when an import comes into the league we'll do a very detailed profile piece on them to let the fans know what they're all about as some of them have amazing stories.

ESPN: What's your ultimate vision for the NBL?

Larry Kestelman: I'd love to see us being further expanded and not just in New Zealand. I really believe this whole region is now working coherently as one in business. We're almost improving and linked together at the hip commercially, you know Australia, China, Japan, Philippines.

I'd love to see a little bit more participation from them and to have clubs represented in our league and Australia is a very logical place because we are the best at it in these region.

My vision is we have a little bit more international talent in our league and then also have a bit more participation and interest in our league from a regional point of view, not just purely Australian. Obviously sold out crowds is a big tick, growing the television audiences and growing the interest in the game.

That's where I see regular teams getting to, the point that they represent great competition for the NBA teams. So quality of our play to continue improving that we can actually be a good competitor and go over there on a regular season basis and play some pre-season games in the US.

Really to be a model citizen for the game of basketball around the world and be well respected, which I think we're very much on track. I think the respect is now back from both the US and Europe on what it is that we do here and I think continuing that is very important.

ESPN: You're also a part owner of Melbourne United Is it hard separating that relationship?

Larry Kestelman: It's probably easier than I thought, I thought it would be harder. I was honest with the teams upfront and said look that's how it is, I'm not going to relinquish my ownership, I've stood down as chairman and I don't participate in any of the day to day running's, so it's actually been a bit easier.

I still go to Melbourne and barrack for them every time I'm in Melbourne. I will certainly, if Melbourne don't make it, be upset for 5 minutes and move on as long as the ratings and the league has got the interest and is thriving I'm happy.

Chris Goulding Michael Dodge/Getty Images

That was always my thought and what I told the other teams. Any one team being successful is pretty pointless, we all need to work together and succeed together. Having one great team and the rest not doing well, is not success.

So that's why I'm so happy, to see all the teams come up and not just be successful on the court but the way they are running their game days and the way they are presenting the professionalism across their business, is actually just as impressive and we are working hard to help them with that.

ESPN: You mentioned about wanting to get the NBL back to the glory days of the 90's. Do you have a favourite player from back in the day?

Larry Kestelman: Look, I can't go past Andrew Gaze. Gaze and Lanard Copeland they were almost like one player. I grew up on that, well not grew up but you know what I mean. I went to plenty of games, watching that duo play, so yeah they're icons of the game.

And I couldn't be happier that they're both, not only part of the coaching staff, but a part of the game. Andrew with his facial expressions and forever stressed.

ESPN: Is there a particular player now that catches your eye?

Larry Kestelman: I love watching, maybe it's the underdog in me, but I actually love watching some of the smaller guys, so the Jerome Randall and Casper Ware, the guys that almost shouldn't be playing basketball.

They're not the height that there meant to be and they don't dunk the ball the way some of the others do, it's just not what you expect.

I love their grit and how they go about their game, they're just real and I think are the best guys to watch because they can do it all and you don't know what is about to happen, it could one second be driving to the basket and the next second pulling up from three quarter court and god knows what and so I love a bit of the underdog.

ESPN: Do you ever get time to sit back and marvel at the league and how far it has come?

Larry Kestelman: That is one thing, I've lost a little bit of since taking on the league even the games themselves that I attend, I'm looking at much more now as what else needs to be done and how do you improve it.

Where as you go back to being a part of the Melbourne Tigers as a corporate or sponsor you go along and just enjoy the game and cheer, I've lost that I can't do that anymore.

I can't help but look at what else needs to be done and how do I improve it, because I feel the pressure of making sure we continue our improvement. It's great where it's come to but I just think there is so much work to be done because we won't stop until we are the absolute best version of what we can be.

Jerome Randle Paul Kane/Getty Images

It doesn't mean we have to be the NBA but we want to be the best version of what we can be and for corporate Australia, who have already gotten behind us, to reward our sponsors and make sure we can get new sponsors on board, because ultimately commercials will drive the outcome and we need corporate Australia to get behind more and more of what we do.

I still love it but I'm not satisfied, we need to keep pushing.

ESPN: If there was one area of the game you could fix up right now in a flash what would that be?

Larry Kestelman: Our game is a professional game, we are a very professional league with serious stakes. If I could overnight change something, it would have to be all of our referees and make them full time professionals and be able to put them through the same rigour and training as we do with the players.

We've now had a couple of referees going full time professional this year and I want to make sure we are continuing that part, if I could click my fingers and have a big pool of full time professional referees that would be amazing.

Listening to the imports and listening to the guys that come from overseas that's probably one of their biggest challenges, the consistency and the refereeing.

You have some guys that are amazing and other guys that need to improve and the bit we forget is that they're not full time professionals.

If you were playing a sport a full time guy will almost always beat a part time guy, so we ask a lot of them and we are going to continue to ask a lot of them.

My job is to see how we can make sure we can look at the standard of our game and the standard of refereeing and make sure it continues to improve hand and in hand.