Mate against mate at a first in States
IT will be Aussie mate against Aussie mate when the NBA’s Utah Jazz host the NBL’s Sydney Kings in a historic clash in Salt Lake Citytoday.
If the players live up to their good-natured digs, there might be some strategically placed power dunks and trash-talking when the teams meet inside the Vivint Smart Home Arena at noon (AEDT).
The Jazz’s Joe Ingles, who just signed a four-year, $50 million contract, went to the same high school in Adelaide as Kings forward/shooting guard Brad Newley.
Ingles joked how he, with the encouragement of his champion Australian netballer wife Renae, hosted Newley at their home on Saturday night.
“It was my wife’s idea to have him over, not mine, and he didn’t bring anything,” Ingles joked in front of reporters yesterday.
Newley, who is staying at a Salt Lake City hotel with the rest of the Kings, thought he had a decent excuse.
“I offered to make a salad, but the hotel didn’t have a kitchen,” Newley argued.
The Jazz’s other Australian, 22year-old guard Dante Exum, is a longtime friend of Kings forward Dane Pineau.
“I hope that Dane is under the basket and I can just go downhill and slam on him,” Exum told reporters. “I’ve already told him about it. He’s going to jump out of the way.”
It will be the first time an NBL team has played an NBA team in the US.