Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has congratulated the NBL on its First Nations leadership as the league launched its annual Indigenous Round on Tuesday.
Accompanied by league executives and Brisbane star Aron Baynes, the prime minister praised the league's Indigenous player rule, which gives teams salary cap relief for Indigenous athletes on their books.
Mr Albanese said the league was blazing a trail other competitions might soon follow.
"Indigenous Round celebrates the enormous contribution Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people make to basketball in Australia and the sporting life of our nation," he told reporters.
"It's great they're backing up this round with the Indigenous player rule, the first of any code to have such serious incentives.
"I congratulate the NBL on its leadership in encouraging clubs to recruit more First Nations talent."
Running rounds 10 through 12, the period will celebrate First Nations culture within the sport including through specially designed Indigenous jerseys.
It's the second year the league has run the round.
"It's nothing but positive, it's an important position for us to take," NBL owner Larry Kestelman told AAP.
"We love doing it and we're very proud of the contributions First Nations people have made to our league.
"We've got some amazing players and coaches and their history is great."
Boomers star Baynes was also proud to launch the initiative, saying it took him back to growing up in the small Queensland town of Mareeba.
"It's something that's close to home, growing up in far-north Queensland, running around on a basketball court for the first time with a lot of Indigenous players," the Bullets centre told AAP.
"That's what I see basketball as, it's so accessible ... it's a great pathway to bring people together and stay focused on something."
