BALL AROUND THE WORLD: Leigh Ellis is on the trip of a lifetime
The first instalment of ‘Austin Powers’ was a formative stepping stone into adolescence for me, personally. I spent way too long laughing at and potentially learning from — albeit through a lewd, psychedelic prism — that movie. Appropriately, I went on to dedicate countless hours, years later, to another ‘International Man of Mystery’, as he served up a similar cocktail of brilliance and mind-bending tangents.
Leigh Ellis earned his nickname — given to him by former colleagues — due to his wanderlust and Australian accent, which to the untrained ear, projected a fish-out-of-water persona, in an otherwise US-centric world of NBA media. His encyclopedic knowledge and memory of the NBA did most of the heavy lifting, but to thousands around the world, that accent meant more that you’d probably expect.
The Melbourne native is viewed as a beacon of hope and a relatable voice for those international basketball ‘sickos’ who grew up viewing the NBA only as an unreachable, foreign fantasy land.
“I think a lot of people see me as a non-American, having some success in the media world in the US as a sign it can be achieved. I don’t have a blueprint to follow, it was a lot about opportunity, chance and trying things. I was in the right place, at the right time,” Ellis said.
He’s been in a lot of places, at a lot of times. Ellis is a dedicated traveller, partly due to his adventurous upbringing. As a kid he was fortunate enough to spend plenty of trips abroad, planting the seeds in him early on. Now that he is a father himself, he makes a conscious effort to broaden his children’s horizons and afford them the same opportunities of discovery.
Basketball is an increasingly global phenomenon and Ellis views it as second only to football as ‘the world’s game’. The sport draws fans and participants from all over the planet and that’s exactly what he finds so beautiful about it. Ellis has spent a couple of decades dissecting the granular details of the NBA — a league which he still describes as the pinnacle of team basketball — but has become more passionate than ever about the international reach and social influence of the game.
The lifelong baller has noticed that he frequently stumbles upon open baskets during his trips abroad, even where you wouldn’t expect to see one. He finds it difficult to resist the temptation of casual shootarounds, rebounding for strangers and occasionally making new friends as a result. It is clear he has fallen in love with the language of basketball, all over again.
“You can go from strangers to teammates very quickly, when you start playing a competitive, fun game with somebody. You don’t have to know anything about that person to enjoy yourself,” he expressed.
During a trip to Berlin last July, Ellis was walking off lunch with his family, when he saw a game of pick-up developing near a flea market. After a short discussion with his wife, he wandered over to communicate through buckets. During the action, his son started filming. Ellis shared the clips — which he describes as ‘not mind-blowing’ — to his Instagram but was not prepared for the reaction. Something resonated with his followership, who felt inclined to reach out. Likes, DM’s, comments and an endless list of personal invites from fans of his work, inviting him to come and play in their city.
Ellis didn’t read too much into it, but another year passed and with it, another family vacation. After a stint in Egypt, the Ellis gang came back through Italy and of course, Leigh was open to a scrimmage. He made a call to action to the people of Florence, but this time it didn’t work out. He couldn’t garner enough interest from Florentine hoopers, but something even more significant happened. The response he received on Instagram from willing players was even more intense than the previous year. He was urged to visit Greece, Portugal, China and Japan, to name a few.
One of his followers invited him to Barcelona, which was where his flight connected a couple of nights later. He took to the Catalonian court, documented his visit and posted on his socials once again.
“The response I got was so overwhelming,” Ellis said. “I said to my wife ‘I wonder if I could turn this into something. I’ve got all these invitations, if I take people up on them, maybe I could generate some revenue, create some interest and turn it into a series of some kind.”
“It got to a point where I thought it was time to take a chance. I have had a very good job, in the podcast and TV world but at the same time I didn’t want to stay in my comfort zone.”
I’m surprised ‘comfort zone’ is in Leigh’s vocabulary. Rolling the dice is a central theme of his life story.
“I moved out of Australia as a twenty-two year old, unsure of where I was going to go, ended up in London, moved to Toronto, got married, had a child, my career took off, bought a house, moved to Atlanta. All these life experiences have taught me that it’s really valuable to take on new challenges and go into the unknown.”
So, he has.
After twelve years on the team, Ellis shocked his ‘No Dunks’ audience in October by announcing his departure from the highly-popular podcast. Having explored both audio and TV avenues with J.E. Skeets, Trey Kerby, Tas Melas, JD & Matt Osten, shot with Steph Curry and vehemently defended the value of morning bananas, the former ‘Starter’ still has some unfinished business. The plan? Combine his thirst for globetrotting with his established following of hoops fanatics.
“I started with the number twenty; twenty cities, twenty countries and twenty games of pick up,” Ellis said. “I wanted to give it some sort of structure, rather than just going until I didn’t have any money left for it.”
The goals are to engage with locals, learn about their culture and tick off an array of unique basketball courts. He will document his trip along the way and work out a way to monetise it in real time, with the help of potential sponsors and outlets.
His initial focus was the Balkans, starting in Slovenia, moving to Croatia, Serbia and then heading down to Greece, in order to follow a linear path. But of course, these things are never simple.
A delay to a flight from Atlanta to Ljubljana meant that Leigh missed his connection in Germany and his arrival in Serbia would have to wait. An early obstacle indeed, but the unexpected night in Frankfurt provided a perfect opportunity to add another city to the list.
“I went out, decided to go to a court and see what I could get. It turned out that we got some incredible content, it was a beautiful day, people were out, a woman named Maria turned up, started doing trick shots. She was immediately like ‘watch this’. She didn’t just have one trick either. It encompassed what a lot of this trip is about — planned, but with a bit of spontaneity. You roll with the punches and sometimes it’s the best content of the whole trip!”
Ellis has been impressed with the quality of play so far. Players have travelled from all over to play with him and potentially even put on a head-turning performance, with one eye on his follower base of over 100k across socials.
“The funny thing is, because people know I’m filming, they’re trying harder. They know it may make one of my Instagram reels! It’s like when you’re a teenager and a girl you like is courtside, so you’re trying to impress.”
Basketball is the thread that holds the project together, but it’s equally an exercise in making memories. Leigh had bookmarked several dream courts, in idyllic locations during the embryonic phase of planning and has already made some of those dreams a reality. A rooftop half-court between Dubrovnik’s fortifying city walls, overlooking the Adriatic Sea was one of them.
“I got lucky, because the weather was amazing and it poured with rain the day I left. The sun setting over the sea and court was spectacular. It’s not necessarily a great court to play on and the rim is only nine foot high, but the scene was perfect.”
In Serbia, Ellis hooped at the Belgrade Fortress in Kalemegdan Park, in the middle of a towering medieval structure.
“I would have loved to have had my boys there, because they’re right into castles, kings, knights, all that stuff! There are military weapons on display. Just playing in an actual fortress has an ambience that an indoor court can’t have! The bar is extremely high now; I need to be playing at Buckingham Palace next or something!”
London is not on the list just yet, but the twenty cities was merely an initial target. The sustainability of the project relies on continued engagement and willingness from participants. Ellis wants to meet as many passionate followers as possible, even outside of the lines.
“The basketball is great, but after most games, it’s about going to have a beer and sharing stories,” Ellis said. “One guy, for example, drove all the way down from Thessaloniki to Athens, made the five-hour drive just to play basketball. It’s the connection with people, having a few jokes and talking about your life. Nobody is keeping score, nobody is worrying about winning the game, it’s about having a shared experience.”
Of course, the most important shared experiences are with loved ones. When the spark for this plan was lit, his first point of contact was his wife, Roxy. Her response was sure to have a huge impact on whether Ellis took the leap, so when she provided support and some much needed perspective, the wheels were put in motion.
“She is from Peru, so when I talked to her about a challenge of trying to make a career out of playing basketball, it would be quite daunting to most people, but she grew up in an era with threats of terrorist attacks on the way to school, saw the economy fall apart in Lima several times and wondered where the next meal was coming from. So, when you put things like that, it’s not that daunting a challenge. Her support has been unwavering, she is the most encouraging person I could have by my side,” Ellis said.
“I’m not afraid of failing. If I don’t make any money from this, or it doesn’t take off, then fine. But what I was afraid of, was possibly being in the same position, career wise, in ten years and wondering if I would have been able to give this a shot.”
At his core, Leigh is an enormous fan of the game. He’s played since he was a kid and has been following the NBA since he saw footage of the 1987 All Star game, which he describes as his version of the almanac from ‘Back to the Future’ — a catalytic event that shaped his life.
“Getting to the United States and watching a game back then, you may as well have told me the game was on Mars.”
His wish for 2023 and beyond? To retain the same joy the game brought him back then, when he still dreamt of playing in the NBA.
“I’ve realised throughout my life that nothing happens unless you put yourself in the position to make it happen,” he shared. “That eleven-year-old who watched the basketball game over and over again, he’d be proud. The fact that I love the game thirty years later is what I’m happiest about. Love and passion of basketball has been a constant in my life. Though I may have moved away from covering the NBA for now, I still LOVE basketball.”
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