It’s not the banner, lottery pick-laden year like we saw last year (where two Australian ballers went in the upper tier of the draft) but Australia is still holding its own in this year’s NBA Draft.

Melbourne-born gun Jonah Bolden is officially an NBA player, being taken by the Philadelphia 76ers with the 36th overall pick in this year’s draft.

Bolden is seen by many as a potential draft steal, with prominent US media outlet The Ringer labelling him “the best player in the draft no one is talking about.“

The 208cm forward was born in Melbourne before attending and playing for Homebush Boys High School in Sydney.

In 2013, Bolden relocated to Las Vegas to play US High School ball for Findlay College Prep. His career shifted to New Hampshire, before he committed to UCLA to play college ball as a four-star recruit. On a team dominated largely by Lonzo Ball, Bolden felt under-utilised by the Bruins, and gave up his remaining two years of college eligibility in order to play professionally in Serbia with FMP Beograd.

Bolden joins a team already extremely familiar with Australians, with last year’s overall number one pick Ben Simmons now a teammate, and coach Brett Brown have extensive experience coaching Australian basketball.

He joins a team overflowing with talent, with Simmons and Joel Embiid now being fed by this year’s overall number one pick in point guard Markelle Fultz.

Congratulations, young man! Time to go to work.

Photo: Joe Scarnici/Getty.

 

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