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Lemanis fears NBA backlash from brawl

NBL, NBA

Boomers coach Andrej Lemanis fears the ugly scenes in the Philippines will make it harder to call on Australian NBA stars for international duty.

Aside from the physical and emotional toll on players and the reputational damage on the sport, Sunday night's all-in brawl could have further consequences for the Boomers program.

NBA teams are already reluctant to release players for the two FIBA windows, in June-July and September, that fall in the league's off-season.

The events in Bulacan could provide them with another excuse to withhold top-line stars like Ben Simmons from joining the Boomers for anything short of World Cups or the Olympics.

Alternatively, players themselves may not want to risk their own safety for qualifiers in countries like the Philippines, where security measures were clearly not up to scratch.

Two current NBA players, Milwaukee Bucks pair Thon Maker and Matthew Dellavadova, were on Australia's roster for the game.

Maker is facing a possible FIBA suspension after he attempted numerous fly-kicks on Filipino opponents in the carnage.

"Obviously that's one of the concerns ... what it means generally in terms of players willingness to participate and put their hand up," Lemanis told reporters on Wednesday.

"We'll see. Hopefully there's good learnings out of this for everybody in terms of the safety and security required around the game."

Lemanis said one such lesson was already clear - the Boomers had no idea who to turn to when the mayhem began.

"What became evident as the situation was unravelling was that there was no clear person or people for us to seek help from," he said.

"In the future, that's the thing we'd like to just establish - if stuff does happen, how's our safety, how are we getting out of there, who's looking after us.

"People play for their country because they're proud to play for their country.

"There's a lot of implied trust from players in me as the coach and in the system generally that they're not going to be put in situations of danger or fear.

"What was disturbing was how quickly ... the situation could get out of control."

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