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he NBL has announced a partnership with the Australian Pride in Sport program, aiming to develop and enhance the inclusion of LGBTQ+ participation on the basketball court.

NBL commissioner, Jeremy Loeliger, said the partnership will assist the NBL in having an inclusive environment for employees, athletes, coaches, volunteers, and spectators with diverse genders and sexualities.

“The NBL is pleased to partner with Pride in Sport,” Loeliger said.

“Basketball prides itself on being a sport that is open and accessible to everyone in the community and the NBL is firmly committed to the values of inclusion and diversity,” he said.

Pride in Sport Australia national program manager, Beau Newell, said creating a much healthier and safer sporting culture for LGBTQ people has never been more important.

“By joining Pride in Sport and working with ACON, the NBL is showing the community that they care about the health and well-being of their athletes, members, and clubs across the country,” Newell said.

“Congratulations to NBL for leading the way in changing Australia’s sporting culture, to be more inclusive,” he said.

The NBL, in a statement, pointed to data from the Out on the Fields study as motivation for the partnership, as it showed 80% of people have either witnessed or experiences homophobia in sport, with 75% believing that an openly gay person would not be safe as a spectator at a sporting event.