Seven years ago I had an idea to start a basketball blog.
A basketball blog about the NBA that was written with a decidedly Aussie twist. Written by Aussies, but not necessarily for Aussies, about a sport that was played ten thousand miles away. It may seem unremarkable now, trivial in concept, but seven years ago, this genre of NBA blog did not exist.
There were a couple of Australians who wrote about the NBA, and I came to know them well, but those blogs were NBA blogs first and foremost, not Australian blogs. That puzzled me, and fuelled by the desire to blaze a niche trail in the sports blogosphere, I started NBAMate.
In the beginning, it was called the Kickz101 Trashtalk Podcast Blog, and yes I’m aware that sounds like a website from the mid-nineties. We had a small but loyal following, mostly of local Aussie hoops fans who frequented the Kickz101 Trashtalk Forum. And we loved talking about our NBA basketball.
We lived it, breathed it, debated it, morning, noon and night. We were part of a growing movement to revive a sport once much loved by Aussies, trying to restore it to its former glory, insistent that it was still the greatest sport – and the greatest league – on earth.
We believed in the cause.
And so NBAMate was born, and soon the idea of an Australian NBA blog seemed less like a novelty and more of a necessity. ESPN TrueHoop linked to us on Australia Day. Yahoo’s Ball Don’t Lie linked to us a bunch of times, as did many others. And then, we kind of lost count. Without trying to blow our own trumpet, it’s fair to say we became a popular little basketball blog. No need to take our word for it… a quick search of ‘nba blog’ at google.com (the US version) will find NBAMate in the first 8-12 results, depending on the day.
Needless to say, we had a lot of fun. Jumping online to check the reactions and over-reactions to our latest blog posts was the highlight of my day for a long time. Watching links to NBAMate cascade around the Internet, popping up in random basketball forums and team blogs, was always amusing. What made it so satisfying wasn’t the hits or the traffic, but the fact they were hits and traffic to an Australian NBA blog.
I can’t tell you how many emails I received from NBA fans in the US and Canada who said they loved reading NBAMate because we were original, interesting, and made following the NBA fun (despite them not understanding repeated references to Steve Carfino). Twenty years ago that would have been like an American subscribing to The Age newspaper because they liked their NBA columnist. I don’t think the irony is lost despite the wonders of the Internet.
If this seems like a longwinded intro that is escaping the point, that’s because it is. That’s exactly what I’m doing, and have been doing for months now. Trying to escape the fact that NBAMate is reaching an end.
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It’s hard to describe what it’s like to let go of something that you have invested so much time into. It would be a metaphoric stretch to say blood, sweat, and tears, so let me put it another way. A couple of months ago, I found out that I had written over 500,000 words on NBAMate. Collectively as a team we’re almost at a million words. A quick bit of Googling will tell you that is one fucking long book – more like 10 long books.
The number is humbling, and more than anything, makes me shake my head in amazement at how much time we’ve put into this thing. NBAMate has been a huge part of my life for a good portion of my life (almost a quarter). It has motivated me, inspired me, and defined me.
For years I convinced myself I was a sports journalist who happened to work as an IT professional during the day. Of course, that was a delusion, but watching and reading and enjoying the NBA was never enough for me. I felt obligated to give something back, obligated to share with the greater fan community.
This wasn’t because of any self-absorbent desire to be heard. It was because I couldn’t process what was happening in the sport I loved without writing about it. NBAMate became an extension of my conscience, a mechanism to gain closure on the countless thoughts bouncing around like a basketball in my head. Whether anyone read it or not didn’t matter. The fact that some people did, was always a bonus.
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To anyone wondering why NBAMate is reaching an end, the answer is simple. There are other priorities that pop up in life, and right now, there are other things on our plate that make it difficult for us to devote the time and energy that NBAMate deserves. We debated the decision, and it wasn’t easy, but we feel like we’re letting go at the right time and going out on a high (in Miami, no less).
There are of course many thank you’s to be said at this point.
Firstly, a big thank you to MadiX and the entire Kickz101 team who helped me get this blog off the ground. The birth of the Kickz101 store in Melbourne coincided with an NBA revival in Australia that was palpable. I couldn’t have started this without your support, and I wish you all the success in the future.
To all the guys who were there on the TrashTalk forums in the mid-2000′s. We had some good times, on the forum and also on the hardwood together. Shooba, Jan, Fatman, Eze, Dime, and a special shoutout to Tizzle and Jobba for your contributions to the site over the years. May your Knicks and Bobcats enjoy many above-average years ahead.
To my mates who have continued to inspire and motivate me over the years. Wibo, my Ray Allen-obsessed friend, for educating me in the ways of smooth (it’s almost #1) – I seriously don’t know what you’ll do when Ray Allen retires. Chucko, for the countless emails we used to send back-and-forth every afternoon while following the games. Keep up that passion for the Suns mate, they won’t be crap forever (just a really long time). Jim – thanks for allowing us the privilege of broadcasting The Decision exclusively on NBAMate. May following the Bulls bring you much joy. And to all my friends whom I play ball with every Thursday night – you’re all part of the reason I love the sport so much, and part of the reason NBAMate kept going for as long as it did.
To the many NBAMate contributors over the years – Ant, Cam, Hans, J.O, Joel, Mosdef, Shaun and SP. Thanks for your support, your creativity and your belief in the cause. You all had a hand in making NBAMate what it is today.
To Ash, over the last three years you’ve been such a huge part of this site and helped shape its voice and style in your own unique way. I couldn’t imagine NBAMate without you. Thank you so much for your often inappropriate but always interesting articles. Never change.
To JT, there is a very good chance I would have been writing this farewell piece three years ago if it wasn’t for you. You’ve been running the show yourself for a while now, and I can’t express in words how grateful I am for the tireless hours you’ve put into the site, and the way you have maintained the true essence of NBAMate. You took it to another level, and you should be really proud of NBAMate as it stands today.
To the NBA League Office itself – thanks for your support and providing us media access on multiple occasions. It meant so much to be formally recognised by the league we so love, and you have given us incredible opportunities and memories that we will treasure for a lifetime. Like seeing Ray Allen nude.
Thank you to the NBA players who we’ve watched and commentated over the years, especially our NBAMate favorites. Just to name a few, thank you to Brandon Roy, Dwyane Wade (for the good and the bad), Danny Granger, the many rejects who participated in the Doubting Thomas Award, Puerto Rican Guy, LeBron James, Joe Johnson, Kobe Bryant, Rasheed Wallace and Ray Allen.
A special thank you also to many of our fellow blogging friends and followers. It’s impossible to name everyone, but just to name a few… Mookie at A Stern Warning, Hendo at Hoop Diary, Don from With Malice, DJ Leon Smith, and Tom and Benyam from Believe the Hype. I urge you to carry on the legacy of representing Australians and the great love we have for the NBA and the sport of basketball.
And lastly, most importantly, to the readers and fans of this site. Thanks for your loyalty, your encouragement, your criticisms, and your passion for the game of basketball. Notably, to all Australian NBA fans, who gave us the conviction that NBAMate was worth all the effort.
It’s easy to lose track of just how far things have come in seven years.
Seven years ago, the only way for Aussies to watch our favourite NBA team was to wait for Pontel DVDs to be delivered every week. I still have like 250 of them in my wardrobe. Since then? We’ve had NBA on Foxtel, and even on free-to-air TV (for a little while). We’ve had International League Pass (which by the way Australia is the highest subscriber of). We’ve had five Australians playing in the NBA – Nathan Jawai, Patty Mills, David Andersen, Aron Baynes and Matty Dellavedova – to add to Andrew Bogut. We’ve seen Bogut go from potential draft-bust to legit All-NBA centre. And we may not be far away from having an NBA game downunder.
A couple of years ago I was approached by someone from the NBA’s digital media department in New York, asking for my contact details. He gave me a call and spoke at length about the increasing surge of attention they were noticing from Australia. Visits to NBA.com, the NBA Facebook page, and ILP subscriptions.
“We’d be really interested in having you guys trial a new video streamer on your site…”
Hearing his American-accented words while staring at my mates kicking a footy in an East Melbourne park, I couldn’t help but smile.
It was the same smile I wore in anticipation seven years ago, when I clicked ‘Publish’ for the first time on NBAMate.
And it’s the same smile I’m wearing proudly now, before I click it for the last time.
With love and gratitude,
Rob D and the NBAMate Team
Tags: Aussie NBA fans, farewell
35 Comments until now.
Rob, truly sorry to see you go. I have been a keen follower of NBAAMate blog for a number of years and always awaiting new blogs. All the best in your new ventures, but the Bogometer will missed. Dennis
It’s a shame to see this blog go but thanks to all the peeps involved in the site, especially RobD.
I’ve been a keen fan for years also and was lucky to contribute to the Doubting Thomas Award as Paul from Two Sides of the Hoop. (which is now gone)
Loved the Bogometer and all the Aussie content, thanks again for all the work you put in.
If you ever feel like writing anything on a casual level and want somewhere to publish it, drop me a line.
Here’s hoping that legacy is upheld.
Cheers lads.
Great work boys.
I love reading this website and am going to miss reading all your posts. Really sad to see it shutting down.
But great work and thanks for everything over the years.
Sad news
Long time follower of the site, which was always a must-visit for any Aussie NBA fan. Thanks for doing such a great service for the Aussie bball community. NBAMate will be missed.
Really, after 7 years this post gets just 4 responses? Rob isn’t this blog potentially bigger than you? Why shut it down, why not shoutout to the lovers of this info service and see if people can/will become contributors? Mate if you let this die its a real shame. Love your work up until now but this is a sad ending to a great story
thanks to all the NBAMate crew for the quality content over the years. felt very proud as an Aussie to have our own NBA blog.
as someone who once had a blog myself, I can tell you, its hard to keep it going and seven years is no mean feat.
all the best for the future.
Quite a surprise. Will be sad to see you boys go. Been an avid reader for the past 5 years and have enjoyed your quality posts… Hope to see you continue with Twitter at least?
All the best with your future and many thanks for years of great reads.
Sad to see it go, a daily stop for me on my NBA read up!
where to now for us aussie fans??
Sorry to see you guys go.
I have been a long time reader. Have had you guys on the top of my favourites bar for years!
Have loved the articles and insights you guys have put up so thankyou.
Good luck in the future!
For a sport played 15,000km away you guys brought it a bit closer to home. Thanks for helping those slow days at work pass a bit quicker.
Really sad this is shutting down, one of the first websites i always come for NBA news.
Thanks for the memories chaps and good luck for your future endeavours
been following you guys since day 1 pretty much. can’t believe that was 7 years ago?!
robd – you have been one of my fav NBA writers over the years. hopefully you can still find a creative outlet after NBAMate because you have a clear talent.
JT – well done on maintaining the site so professionally and keeping us informed with news we should care about.
NBAMate has literally become indispensable for me as an Aussie NBA fan. feeling a bit lost…
sorry to see this blog being shut down. It was very entertaining and a great source to gain NBA facts and info certain topic in the league.
Not happy to see, but I see your point. I remember back when I clicked on the link to Lebron’s fairy dust post.
I always came to this blog because of the unique take on things with an Aussie twist, which I as European living in Europe, found very entertaining.
You guys also made me a fan of Coopers Pale Ale, which I enjoy in a local australian Pub.
I came pretty late to the party, but I enjoyed the posts a lot. Thank you guys for your entertainment. I wish all of you guys the best of luck in your respective lives.
cheers, Alec
A sad day for us Aussie nba fans. Only found the site a few months ago but have spent many hours reading through old material that was gold.
All the best with your future endeavours.
noooooooo!
sad to see this site go. kudos for taking it from a little unknown site to NBA-approved media. has been great to follow the journey.
This sucks. I have no other words.
Thanks for everything though guys.
To the entire NBAMate team – thanks for your entertainment, your insight, your opinions, and most of all for helping bring this great sport a little closer to home for us Aussies. You guys will seriously be missed.
major bummer. long time follower of the site. don’t check in as much as I used to (the playoffs of 2009 were pretty memorable Rob) but you guys have been steadily churning out quality for a long long time, and kudos for that.
Rob,
It’s a sad day to see a quality sports blogging site come to an end, but I do hope it opens the door for more NBA opportunities in the future.
I myself didn’t contribute enough on my part, like the current NYK roster, but I did enjoy reading your posts and JTs also – always refreshing, great one liners and generally translated the thoughts I had going through my mind, albeit you did a kick arse job of expressing them better than I did.
I just wanted to take the opportunity to A) wish you well in your next ventures in life, 2) to thank you from the bottom of my heart for inspiring me and giving me the chance to contribute to this wonderful site and 3) say a massive WELL DONE for all the hard work you guys put in to make this idea come to life.
Basketball is well and truly back to its lofty heights in an often crowded and highly competitive sports market. And I believe NBAMate played a major role in that. I also it’s played a great role in connecting people, fellow hoop heads who share the same passion for this great game as I do.
We all are better off because of the product you guys put out….
Take a bow
Mate, sorry to hear that nbamate has reached it’s conclusion. I credit the site and your enthusiasm for my renewed interest in the NBA, and subsequently some of the fondest memories of my 20′s.
The 2009 finals series was off the charts, and the continuing career renaissance of Ray Allen has been incredible.
If nothing else, the half-million words would have been worth it just to see Ray Allen naked. But clearly it’s been much more than that.
Congratulations on a project of passion, insight and Aussieness.
It’s been bloody awesome.
You guys are being very humble. Having been an avid Aussie NBA fan over the past decade, its clear to me that NBAMate directly contributed to the revival of the sport here and is one of the reasons we are so highly ranked on ILP subscriptions and NBA.com visits.
When NBA went free to air a few years back, NBAMate was the go-to site for me, and I’m sure countless other, to quickly find out what was showing on Aussie TV that week. The site became indispensable for Aussie NBA Fans.
And I don’t know too many other fan-started blogs that ended up getting interviews with Andrew Bogut. So you guys deserve a huge amount of credit for all the hard work you put in, and for your vision of creating a site that made the NBA so accessible to Aussies.
I think there is enough momentum now to keep it going here in Australia. With more Aussies in the NBA, better technology and social media the world is even smaller than it was seven years ago. But thanks for building such a strong foundation.
Well done, and I’ll certainly miss it. I already do.
Thanks everyone for the comments. We’re very touched and it means a lot to us. Wishing everyone a happy, safe and prosperous 2014 ahead.
sad to hear the news. this site was always one of the first bball sites I checked. kudos on a long and successful run.
sorry to hear the news boys. long time follower, first time commenter. just wanted add my vote of appreciation for everything you’ve done for the sport of bball in this country. NBAMate will be missed!
Sad that you are calling it a wrap. The greatest aspect I liked about your blog was your coverage of Aussie ballers.
Hey Rob/guys,
Not sure if you’re still receiving emails or reading them coming in on this address?
I searched “NBA blogs” in google in an attempt to become a contributor or even staff writer for one. I am too an NBA enthusiast/obsessive, from London UK I thought of creating a similar movement you have in AUS over here.
My message is really are you in anyway able to help me get my words out there? Do you have any email addresses for contacts in the industry I can have?
Any help you may be able to help would be graciously received by a struggling sports journo.
THANKS.
Luke Ingledew.
oh what? just when i was looking forward to the upcoming season i see this. wish I had of responded when you first wrote it. thanks for everything guys. this was always one of the most original NBA blogs out there.
keep checking back here every few months hoping you guys will start writing again. have seen many a blog write their “farewell post” only to start up again, but alas it seems you guys have really hung up the boots. thanks for all your efforts over the years. it was a great innings.
BG
We still remember.
How I wish NBA Mate were still here for every Playoffs series!
Jordan-Comeback-Out-Of-Retirement scenario for NBA Mate led by robd?
Consider coming out of retirement and blog again. Patty Mills and Ingles doing well in the NBA at the moment.
Spntylt
vtuballa@gmail.com
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reproduced by hand, in contrast
bride, Julie d’Angenne.
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