WATCH every week via the as SBS journalist and budding basketball enthusiast, Joel Spreadborough chats with players that have made their way to Australia’s pre-eminent league from every corner of the country, and the world.
"Being from former Yugoslavia, being Serbian, it means a lot to me," Vasiljevic said.
"The grit and toughness inspires me. My people, my parents, have been through a lot - coming from a war-torn country, having to flee, and starting from scratch. They tell me to never forget where you’re from.’
Vasiljevic never lived in Serbia, but - despite now being aligned to Australia - he will always be connected to the culture. And the feeling is mutual.
"It’s who we are, we don’t change for anyone or just because we’re in a different country. When we played Serbia at the Under-19 World Championships, being able to sing their national anthem as well, it was an emotional time. The Serbian fans were kind of rooting for me, because I was one of them," he said.
Reuben Te Rangi has a Maori father and a Rarotongan mother.
His earliest cultural memories are performing the haka on a coffee table before All Blacks games, and his mother playing Rarotongan music to inspire him and his siblings to help clean the house.
"It worked at first, but we quickly learned to pretend we were asleep when that music came on," Te Rangi said.
Te Rangi’s Maori and Cook Islands background has had a serious influence on what has been a prolific career; spanning 3 NBL clubs, 2 x titles, and 49 appearances for the New Zealand Tall Blacks.
He nominates his dual heritage as a lasting source of inspiration for his on-court performance.
"At an early age we are taught in the Maori culture to not back down," he said.
"We’re taught to stand our ground and give everything to the cause at hand. But I also like to have fun, which is the Rarotongan side. So you see the mix."
Te Rangi’s greatest role model? The late, great All Blacks legend Jonah Lomu.
While for Melbourne United, Yudai Baba's inspiration begins at home.
He wants to beat his father. It’s that simple.
Toshiharu Baba was a Japanese national player himself, before going on to become his son’s first coach and lifelong inspiration.
And the only way Yudai can surpass his famous father (or so he believes), is to put Japanese basketball on the world map. Hopefully, with an Olympic medal in Tokyo.
"We never played one-on-one," Yudai said.
"But I now play in foreign countries. If I can win the Olympics, then I say I beat him. And if we win in Tokyo, basketball grows in Japan."
The 25-year-old is destined for the NBA, but his career ambitions also remain far closer to his birthplace - Toyama prefecture on Honshu Island.
"I have a responsibility to these kids," he added. "If I can make NBA, and can win Olympics, I am like … a pioneer."
These are just a few of the many off-court highlights supplied by some of the NBL’s biggest names in SBS’ 'Playing from the heart' series.
The players involved unlock a level of passion and enthusiasm, often unseen when they’re discussing offense and defence.
It is these revelations around important memories from their heritage, cultural learnings, and the desire to inspire future generations that drive them on a daily basis.
Check out Brazilian superstar Didi Louzada’s first English-speaking interview with Australian media, and find out how he shunned a darker path to pursue basketball.
Or tune in to discover what globetrotting indigenous icon Nate Jawai plays for, and why his message for kids from his beloved home community of Bamaga in far north Queensland is simply: ‘home will always be there.’
SBS Sport’s aspiring basketball enthusiast Joel Spreadborough embarks on a mission to explore how - for these NBL players from the world over - the past shapes the future.
