In a historic first, the National Basketball Association (NBA) and the National Basketball League (NBL) today announced that the Sydney Kings, Melbourne United and the Brisbane Bullets will take part in the 2017 NBA preseason in October.
The Sydney Kings will play the Utah Jazz, featuring Australians Joe Ingles and Dante Exum, onOct. 2 at Vivint Smart Home Arena, followed by Melbourne United meeting the Oklahoma City Thunder on Oct. 8 at Chesapeake Energy Arena. The Brisbane Bullets will play the Phoenix Suns at Talking Stick Resort Arena on Oct. 13.
This will mark the first time that NBL teams will travel to the U.S. to play against NBA teams. There were a record eight Australian players on 2016-17 NBA rosters, including Ingles and Patty Mills (San Antonio Spurs), both of whom previously played in the NBL.
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