Playing or Not, Andersen to Stay Involved in Basketball

David Andersen doesn’t know if he will be playing next season but what he does know is he will be involved in basketball, one way or another.

The 40-year-old Andersen remains without a contract for NBL21 and still has ambitions to play but if he doesn’t, he is ready to move into an off-court role.  

“To be honest, thinking about it, the way the scenarios might play out and what might happen with the NBL, I’m not sure…it’s different steps in your life as you get older, things take priority and stuff like that,” Andersen told NBL Rewind. 

“For me at the moment it’s just about ticking the body over and doing what we can and keeping the body in decent shape.

“You never know when opportunities might pop up, so for me, I’m not crying if I don’t, I’m not worried if I do, it’s more about ticking along and enjoying it.

“I want to be involved in the basketball game a lot with any kind of role. Whether that’s with the national team, whether it’s with an NBL team or with the NBL as an ambassador or something like that, I want to keep promoting the sport.

“I will be involved, I’m not sure in what capacity yet. Playing wise, I will be around, and you never know, hopefully I can still ride the bike. I will see what happens but it’s just a matter of waiting to see what opportunities knock as always.”

Andersen has achieved success throughout his career, winning an NBL championship with Melbourne United in 2018 on top of three EuroLeague championships and numerous trophies in Italy, Russia, Spain, Turkey and France.

He played with The Hawks last season and worked out with them earlier this year after Brian Goorjian was introduced as coach. While he wasn’t offered a deal with The Hawks, Andersen revealed he has work outs lined up with the South East Melbourne Phoenix.

“I actually might be starting to do a little bit of work outs with the Phoenix coming up because my good mate Simon (Mitchell), the coach over there, said you can come over and tick your body over if you want,” Andersen said.

“With Goorj in charge of The Hawks there was a bit of chat around that, I was working out with them but since then they’ve filled the roster.”

Even if it isn’t in a playing capacity, Andersen looks forward to helping grow basketball in Australia and ensuring its recent upward trajectory and momentum continues.

“Larry (Kestelman) has done a great job and I always applaud him, and I mention him many times because for what he has done for the NBL,” Andersen said.

“I remember going through all the crap and the mud and now it has come back out.

“I feel like basketball in Australia has really taken off from when I got back in Australia in 2016. We are getting great amounts of fans, everyone is talking about it a lot more, we are getting more media coverage. It’s going to a whole new level.”

Listen to the NBL Rewind podcast every Thursday night from 6:30pm AEDT. Each week, Cam Luke and Liam Santamaria are joined by a special guest to relive some of the greatest moments in NBL history. Available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts and YouTube.