Mr B’ball backs a GC team

THE godfather of Gold Coast basketball has backed the talks to bring the city back into the NBL.

David Claxton (pictured), known to many as “Mr Basketball” was the coach of the Gold Coast Rollers team in the 1990s and later helped found the Gold Coast Blaze in 2007 with the Tomlinson family.

He said he was delighted by early talks – revealed by the Bulletin this week – between billionaire competition boss Larry Kestelman, Mayor Tom Tate and a consortium led by entertainment boss Billy Cross.

“I wish them all the best in terms of getting an NBL licence again because there is a growing market for it here on the Gold Coast and is the biggest regional market for basketball,” he said.

“The league is in a good position, Larry Kestelman has done a great job in many ways and the standard of competition is terrific.

“The Blaze was doing well in its last season and the NBL now in the past three years has really seen strong quality, in terms of the salaries to attract the right people being much more than it was in our day.

“Looking back at the Blaze, the Tomlinson family do not get as much credit as they should in terms of what they put behind that franchise during the difficult times of the global financial crisis.

Mr Kestelman visited the Gold Coast last week and met at a Broadbeach cafe with Mr Cross and other consortium members. Mr Tate and Mr Kestelman talked in Sydney last weekend.

The NBL is looking at locations for expansion teams on the back of expressions of interest for new franchise licences.

Canberra, another city to have previously held an NBL licence, and the Gold Coast are leading the field of prospective new teams.

At least two franchises are expected to enter the competition between 2024 and 2025.

A source with knowledge of the inner workings of the NBL told the Bulletin it costs an estimated $8m to $10m to run a team annually.

Mr Tate on Tuesday said a new NBL side on the Gold Coast would be well-supported.