Owner Larry Kestelman has declared the NBL the world's second best basketball league following an Andrew Bogut-inspired explosion in interest.
The NBL released crowd statistics on Thursday which show this season is on track to be the most supported in its 40-year history.
It coincides with the return home of 13-year NBA centre Bogut, whose signing with the Sydney Kings has contributed towards a 32 per cent boost to their home crowd numbers.
The total league crowd attendance is 350,274 for the first half of the season, up about 15,000 on 2017-18, which finished as the most-watched in NBL history.
The average crowd per game is 6369.
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Kestelman told AAP that basketball was experiencing a global growth but Australia's increased popularity could be attributed to more than that.
"We've built a product in Australia that in terms of standard and as an entertainment package is second to none after the NBA," said Kestelman, who reiterated his desire for Bogut to be an NBA-to-NBL trailblazer.
"Andrew's been huge for the league. I think it will start a procession for the other Australian players in the NBA.
"We feel it will become almost a normal proposition for them to finish playing (in the US) and come play here for the last few years of their career. This league will only get bigger for it."
Kestelman nominated Patty Mills and Joe Ingles as two NBA veterans who have responded positively to the prospect of ending their playing career in Australia.
Other factors behind the clicking turnstiles was the close nature of this year's league and the higher-scoring games, Kestelman said.
It is making the NBL a viable broadcast prospect in US, Asian and European markets, he said.
