In 1995 the NBL was arguably the most successful period in Australian basketball history, the NBL was at it's peak and with the North Melbourne Giants reigning NBL champions they recruited Chris Jent, who had won an NBA championship with the Houston Rockets only a few months earlier to replace an injury Paul Maley and formed a dynamic duo with Darryl McDonald.

The team was unable to repeat as champions, losing the deciding third game of the NBL Grand Final to the Perth Wildcats 108-88.

Jent averaged 25.7 points, 6.9 rebounds, 2.9 assists and 1.9 steals per game and was named all NBL first team in the process.

Chris Jent was one of the greatest "one and done" players in NBL history and he joins the podcast to talk about his time in australia as well as his time playing for Ohio University, Houston Rockets, New York Knicks, Italy, Spain and Greece.

Get 20% off custom designed uniforms with promo code HOOPLA20 from CA Sports

Get 5% off NBA tickets with promo code HOOPLA5 from US Sports Tickets

Sign up for Ian Stacker's All-Star Shooting Program

Topics discussed on the podcast include;

• Chris Jent elaborates on his coaching role with the Atlanta Hawks (2:00)

• How he was recruited to Ohio State University, playing with Jimmy Jackson and facing Michigan's Fab Five (9:00)

• The early 90's Continental Basketball Association and what that was like (13:00)

• Going undrafted then being signed by the Houston Rockets and playing alongside Hakeem Olajuwon (15:00)

• Coaching Atlanta's young stars Trey Young and John Collins and what he hopes to develop in them next season (16:00)

• Winning the NBA championship with the Houston Rockets (18:00)

• His 1995 season with the North Melbourne Giants (29:00)
  His relationship with former coach Brett Brown now both are in the NBA coaching ranks (35:00)

• His struggles with the Australian culture (38:00)

• Returning to the NBA as a coach (41:00)

• Working with LeBron James as his shooting coach and what Chris helped him change with his shot (46:00)

• The biggest hurdle he overcame as both a player and a coach in the NBA (49:00)

• The toll of minutes and travel in the NBA (52:00)

With Basketball Australia in the media heavily over the past twelve months with the Boomers "basketbrawl" in the Philippines, bringing Team USA to Australia to face the Boomers in two sell-out games, choosing to dissolve the SEABL and recently deciding to block Australian teams from playing in the NZ NBL Paul Maley, Executive General Manager Basketball at Basketball Australia joins the podcast to give clarity to some of these events from the past 6 months.

Get 20% off custom designed uniforms with promo code HOOPLA20 from CA Sports

Get 5% off NBA tickets with promo code HOOPLA5 from US Sports Tickets

Sign up for Ian Stacker's All-Star Shooting Program

Topics discussed on the podcast include;

• The NBL1 pathway Vs NCAA college for aspiring NBL players (3:00)

• The process undertaken by Basketball Australia to create the Boomers Vs USA games in August (12:00)

• Plans to create an international warm-up tournament next year pitching the Boomers and Opals against three other elite national teams (19:00)

• Can Australia become a top two sport in Australia by 2022 (27:00)

• Why did Basketball Australia block Mount Gambier from playing in the NZ NBL (34:00)

• Did Basketball Australia make the right decision in dissolving the SEABL (42:00)