It’s been a whirlwind nine years for Damian Cotter since his last Australian coaching stint.

After departing the Sydney Kings’ head-coaching role in 2015, Cotter has made a name for himself in the U.S, starting with the Long Island Nets, one of three roles he held in the NBA’s G League, before joining the Chicago Bulls as an assistant coach in 2020.

A lot has changed in Cotter’s life, and just as much has changed in the NBL. In those nine years he’s been overseas, the league has undergone an incredible transformation under the guidance of Larry Kestelman.

“The NBL is held in such high regard amongst the NBA,” Cotter said.

“I look at what the NBL has done with the increased professionalism in the last nine years, and the pathway here is obviously still producing a lot of good players.

“What the league’s done a very good job of is creating this impression of professionalism … the Next Stars program has obviously really helped with that, and then Australian basketball, Basketball Australia just keeps producing players … Johnny Furphy … there’s been all these kids that just keep tricking along, and apparently there’s more to come.”

The former Australian Opals assistant was in Melbourne this week, meeting with Josh Giddey ahead of his move from the Oklahoma City Thunder to the Bulls.

“This blew me away when I walked into this office, and credit to everybody that Larry and Vince (Crivelli - Chief Operating Officer) and everybody that’s been part of this,” said.

“It just blew me away with how many people are here (at league headquarters) and the aura of work that’s going on … it’s pretty cool.”