NBL welcomes return of Mitsubishi sponsorship

The National Basketball League has announced the return of Mitsubishi as a major partner for its 2024 season.

Mitsubishi was previously the naming rights sponsor of the competition from 1992-2000 and, 23 years later, the company has returned as a key supporter of Australian basketball.

Stephen Quartermain, who was the voice of the NBL in that 1990s period, including the near decade Mitsubishi was on board, commenting "it’s impossible to compare eras whether you’re talking about cricket, football, basketball, whatever.

“You live in your era, and back then I was so intimately involved - I’m not so much these days.

“The talent on television today are unbelievable athletes and I’m sure they would have been superb back in the 90s, but look at the guys from then.

“Gaze, Copeland, Bradke, Vlahov, Crawford, Bolden, you could just go on, and on, and on.

“It was a great era full of great personalities on and off the court.

“It would be great to somehow arrange a time machine to watch them go up against each other.”

With the NBL established itself as one of the world's major basketball competitions outside of the NBA it is developing a series of growth opportunities which it describes as being "a far cry from the days where the league was threatening to go under".

Speaking at the launch of the Mitsubishi x NBL partnership, Quartermain “it was with a lot of sadness, even though I was out of the sport, to see what happened to the NBL.

“It was really upsetting because I’d formed so many friendships and had formed a lot of love for the competition.

“As I saw it slowly coming back with Larry (Kestelman, NBA owner) getting involved - and what a legend he’s been for the sport - it’s just been great to sit back and watch this resurgence.

“A lot of people regard it as the second-best competition in the world, so what more could you ask for?

“It’s back to the future for me. Mitsubishi were fantastic supporters of basketball back in those amazing, heady days.

“It was brilliant back then, and for them to come back and support basketball now just shows where the game is at.”

Image: Yesterday's launch of the Mitsubishi x NBL partnership. Credit: NBL.