– Utah Jazz, Oklahoma City Thunder, Phoenix Suns to Host Sydney Kings, Melbourne United, Brisbane Bullets –
MELBOURNE AND NEW YORK, Sept. 20, 2017 – The National Basketball Association (NBA) and ESPN announced today that the three 2017 NBA preseason games in the U.S. – Sydney Kings vs. the Utah Jazz, Melbourne United vs. Oklahoma City Thunder and the Brisbane Bullets vs. the Phoenix Suns – will be televised live in Australia on ESPN. The broadcast schedule of games are as follows (times listed in Australian Eastern Daylight Time):
Tuesday Oct. 3 at 12:00 p.m. on ESPN – Sydney Kings @ Utah Jazz
Monday Oct. 9 at 6:00 a.m. on ESPN – Melbourne United @ Oklahoma City Thunder
Saturday Oct. 14 at 1:00 p.m. on ESPN – Brisbane Bullets @ Phoenix Suns
These preseason games mark the first time that NBL teams will travel to the U.S. to play against NBA teams. In addition to ESPN’s telecast, the three games will also be available through NBA LEAGUE PASS, the league’s live game subscription service.
A record-tying eight Australian players were on 2016-17 opening night NBA rosters, including Joe Ingles (Utah Jazz) and Patty Mills (San Antonio Spurs), both of whom previously played in the NBL.
About the NBA The NBA is a global sports and media business built around three professional sports leagues: the National Basketball Association, the Women’s National Basketball Association and the NBA G League. The league has established a major international presence with games and programming in 215 countries and territories in 49 languages, and NBA merchandise for sale in more than 125,000 stores in 100 countries on 6 continents. NBA rosters at the start of the 2016-17 season featured a record 113 international players from 41 countries and territories. NBA Digital’s assets include NBA TV, NBA.com, NBA App and NBA LEAGUE PASS. The NBA has created one of the largest social media communities in the world, with more than 1.3 billion likes and followers globally across all league, team, and player platforms. Through NBA Cares, the league addresses important social issues by working with internationally recognized youth-serving organizations that support education, youth and family development, and health-related causes.
About the NBL The National Basketball League in Australasia is one of the of the premier basketball leagues in the world. Established in 1978 the League now has eight teams based in cities across the country – Adelaide 36ers, Cairns Taipans, Melbourne United, New Zealand Breakers, Perth Wildcats, Sydney Kings, Brisbane Bullets and Illawarra Hawks. Some of the NBL’s greatest players include former NBA player and five-time Olympian Andrew Gaze, 21-season scoring-machine Leroy Loggins, five-time championship-winner Larry Sengstock, and 500-game veterans Ray Borner and James Crawford. From humble beginnings, the NBL now sells out stadiums with more than 650,000 attending games each season and live TV coverage nationally. The NBL hasNBL.com.au, and a live streaming NBL APP. The 2017-18 season will be its 40th as a league.
About ESPN ESPN is the world’s leading sports entertainment company. In Australia and New Zealand, ESPN operates the ESPN, ESPN2 and WatchESPN subscription television sports channels. ESPN’s digital network is Australia’s number one destination for online sport, comprising the sitesESPN.com.au ESPNcricinfo, ESPNFC, ESPNfootytips, ESPNscrum and espnW. ESPN also operates the X Games and ESPN Films franchises.
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