Basketball On The Internet.

BRAD Rosen and I could barely contain our excitement (and particularly Brad here) to have as our guest on the Brad&Boti podcast, one of the all-time great "blasts from the past" in NBL championship winner and close personal friend of the late NBA Commissioner David Stern, the one and only Bruce Bolden.

OK. I may have been stretching the truth just a tiny wee bit there with calling Bruce a close personal friend of the late Commish but certainly I was spot on in declaring him one of the NBL's all-time greats.

These days as our focus narrows and today's "experts" only can name the obvious - Leroy Loggins, Cal Bruton, James Crawford - as greats of bygone eras, we tend to overlook many of those other greats who provided our league with such extraordinary depth of talent.

Players such as Rocky Smith, Ken Richardson, Al Green, Mark Davis, Bennie Lewis, Norman Taylor to name just a few off the top of my toupee, don't spirng into conversations these days as readily as they should.

Rest assured, Bruce Bolden is another who deserves far great accolades than he has received post-career, where for the most recent past he has been referred to as Jonah Bolden's father.

Before there was Jonah, Bruce was having a whale of a time dominating our NBL over a 17-season span, starting in the league at the mighty Saints and continuing on with the Spectres, Magic, Kings and Razorbacks, West Sydney retiring his #32 uniform.

An NBL champion in 1992 with South East Melbourne Magic, Best Sixth Man in 1999, Bruce actively follows today's NBL and also has a viewpoint on Ben Simmons' deteriorating situation with the NBA's Philadelphia 76ers.

Some of the biggest names in the game have crossed Bruce's path - Dr J, Julius Erving his idol growing up - and he is happy to share an array of anecdotes that will keep you glued to your speakers.

Originally recruited by Gippsland in the CBA (SEABL, now NBL1 South) after a stint in Norway, he was mainly noted for his rebounding in college but became a scorer in Australia.

To hear Bruce share is story, hit this link, or go to your usual places for podcasts at Apple or Spotify. You will enjoy this as much as Brad Rosen enjoyed playing alongside him, Bruce something of a mentor for my co-podcaster.

ABOVE: Bruce the champ. BELOW: Bruce the NBL All Star.