More than 55,000 spectators filled the Rod Laver Arena stands across four days last week for exhibition games against NBL clubs Melbourne United and South East Melbourne Phoenix as well as an open training session on Thursday afternoon and 'fan night' on Saturday evening that featured the kinds of entertaining skills challenges one would see at the NBA All-Star Weekend.
The Pelicans became the first NBA team to step onto let alone play on Australian soil after decades of attempts from the NBL to lure the world's best basketball league across to the other side of the world.
"I have no problem saying the NBL is the second-best league in the world," Zion Williamson declared prior to the beginning of the four-day showcase event, and the Pelicans' love for Australia stretched right through to their goodbyes on Sunday.
It was such a success that the Pelicans were left to regret spending only five days in Australia, conceding prior to their departure that in hindsight something closer to a two-week stay would have been preferred.
At least 26-year-old guard Jordan Poole got to tick some time with kangaroos and koalas off his bucket list, which he joked on Sunday was "all (he) cared about", when a group of players visited Werribee Open Range Zoo on Saturday afternoon.
The positive feedback from the players about the lifestyle and the on-court standards of their NBL opponents makes a great advertisement for other NBA teams to make pre-season visits to Australia despite the gruelling 16-hour flight from Los Angeles to Sydney.
Here are four things we think could come out of the Pelicans' historic tour of Melbourne.
Future pre-season visits from NBA teams
After seeing the financial success of an event that was co-sponsored by the Visit Victoria tourism fund, the NBL will no doubt be open to offers from other state governments to stage future NBA x NBL series' in 2026 and beyond and it may not even be limited just to the city of Melbourne.
Sydney is always hungry to jostle with Melbourne for major sporting events such as NBA exhibition matches, whilst Western Australia in particular has not been shy about splashing out taxpayer funds on high profile tourism events such as visits from football giants Chelsea and Manchester United.
One may wish to question the value of what the world's best basketballers can learn from playing against inferior teams, but the Pelicans players and coaches unequivocally hailed that exposing themselves to a different style of play was a great learning experience.
Poole spoke on Sunday afternoon of one particular Melbourne United set piece that immediately followed a timeout and caught them napping:
A regular season NBA game down under
Many other world-class sporting leagues are dipping their toes into the water that is staging regular season matches overseas and the NBA is no exception.
The Covid pandemic notwithstanding, the NBA has been sending annual regular season fixtures to Paris and/or Mexico City and has also previously visited London, Tokyo and Yokohama, whilst Berlin and Manchester will soon be making their debuts as NBA regular season venues.
The NFL will soon be visiting Australia in 2026, with the MCG set to be packed to the rafters next year when the Los Angeles Rams 'host' an opponent yet to be determined.
Similarly, the NHL recently brought the Arizona Coyotes and Los Angeles Kings to Rod Laver Arena in September 2023 for a pre-season fixture and also enjoys success from its 'Global Series', the next one of which will be hosted by Sweden in November, whilst the MLB played a regular season opener at the SCG in 2014.
Spain's La Liga has sought permission from FIFA and UEFA to stage a game between Villarreal and Barcelona in Miami - though that is yet to clear several obstacles - whilst Serie A is set to move a match between AC Milan and Como to Perth whilst San Siro hosts the opening ceremony for the 2026 Winter Olympics.
Saudi Arabia has also hosted competitive European football such as the Italian Super Cup.
The trend is going only one way globally, and whilst it makes sense for the NBA to first be looking to the UK and Europe for its less arduous travel and friendlier timezones for USA audiences, Pelicans head coach Willie Green gave his nod of approval to a regular season NBA match in Australia.
"I think it's a possibility for sure," Green said.
"The game is so global, you're getting teams that are playing regular season games in other countries.
"After this experience, I think we'll see more teams."
"It's something that we should make more routine, for sure," Poole said in agreement.
NBA legend Ray Allen has encouraged Australia to shoot for the sky.
“Somebody has to wear the dream to say, ‘this is possible’," Allen told Code Sports.
“We (the NBA) are so adjustable and we can figure it out.
“It is just logistics. You’re talking about being on different soil, you’re talking about so many great players in teams all over the world and being able to play NBA games on their soil, it can be done.”
Greater draft prospects for Australian talent
More NBA teams visiting Australia can only be a good thing for local talent with an eye on being drafted to the NBA, such as 17-year-old United prospect Dash Daniels and second-year NBA Next Star Malique Lewis, who on Sunday was given a game-high 31 minutes on the court to show off his skills.
It was Daniels, already seemingly on the way to a first round NBA draft selection even before last week, who won the praise of Willie Green and Zion Williamson for his outstanding defence against Jordan Poole and Jeremiah Fears on Friday night.
"His defensive instincts are very similar to his brother (Dyson Daniels)," Green said.
"He picks up full court, has long arms and great size. He's physical, and he caused some havoc for us defensively. He's a really good player."
Throwdowns at Rod Laver Arena
Melbourne United head coach Dean Vickerman is not the first person to have called for the 'Throwdown' derbies to be moved from the John Cain Arena (capacity 10,500) to Rod Laver Arena (14,800) but the electric atmosphere at Rod Laver Arena (RLA) on both Friday night and Sunday afternoon strengthened the case to move future Throwdowns to the larger capacity venue.
"You talk about the continual growth of our game, but it was a long time ago - 1990 and 1991 - that I got to play Tigers vs Magic (at RLA) and this thing packed out like it was tonight.
"The opportunity for me is to say that I'd love to see a Throwdown in this venue if it could possibly happen.
"It's an elite venue. I'd love to see it happen."
American South East Melbourne Phoenix coach Josh King doesn't share Vickerman's intimate familiarity with RLA but was nonetheless keen to see more basketball played there.
"Hopefully in the future we can get enough interest (to play at RLA)," King said on Sunday.
"Our league is high level. Melbourne United is a very good team, I think we've got a good team as well.
"I would love to play here one of these days against them."
NBL owner Larry Kestelman strongly hinted that plans for a Throwdown at RLA were moving in the right direction despite the prohibitive cost of transforming the multi-purpose stadium into a basketball court and the dearth of corporate suites compared with John Cain Arena.
"Our team believes we can do it," Kestelman said before adding:
"It's an expensive setup to convert it into a basketball arena, so it's not easy. But that doesn't mean it can't happen. It's just such a perfect arena for basketball, so I think we need to see that happen and get the NBL back at Rod Laver.
"Some of the infrastructure that had to be built for this game, we can definitely re-use."
