The NBL has confirmed that NBA franchise New Orleans Pelicans will visit Australia in October 2025 to play Melbourne-based clubs Melbourne United and South East Melbourne Phoenix in two pre-season games.
The weekend of games and fan events, held from October 3-5 at Melbourne Park, will inaugurate the first NBA games to ever be hosted in Australia and turn a new chapter in the NBL and NBA's collaborative history.
Melbourne United are scheduled to play the Pelicans on Friday October 3, with the Phoenix playing New Orleans on Sunday October 5.
In addition to the two games, Melbourne will also host an open-training session for fans to "get a behind-the-scenes look at the team's preparations", as well as a fan night on Saturday October 4.
Previously, the NBL has sent the league's teams to the USA to feature in pre-season fixtures, beginning in 2017. The partnership took a break after the 2019-20 season due to the coronavirus pandemic, but restarted ahead of the 2022-23 season. As of 2025, seven of the ten NBL clubs have played NBA franchises in pre-season games, South East Melbourne becoming the eighth in October.
The Pelicans will likely be led by former #1 draft pick and two-time All-Star Zion Williamson, as well as 2022 All-Star Dejounte Murray. The 2024-25 season has not gone to plan for New Orleans, currently residing in 14th place in the Western Conference with a record of 17-48. However, this could mean they land the first pick in the NBA draft, which would almost certainly secure them college basketball phenom Cooper Flagg, provided he does not choose to return to Duke for another season.
While history does not favour an NBL team's chance of winning against NBA talent, there have been several instances of competitive games. Most notably, the Adelaide 36ers defeated the Phoenix Suns during the 2022-23 pre-season, which sent massive shockwaves through basketball social media and generated significant exposure for the NBL.ย Additionally, in the first NBLxNBA series, Melbourne United were defeated by just a singular point by the stacked Oklahoma City Thunder team, which featured a superstar trio of 2017 NBA MVP Russell Westbrook and All-NBA stars Paul George and Carmelo Anthony.
Fans can register their interest for tickets and receive updates on presale and event information here.
