Rod Siegel - Building Better Basketball

Today on Building Better Basketball, we’re joined by someone operating right at the intersection of performance science and high-performance leadership - Rodney Siegel. Rod is currently the High Performance Manager for Wheelchair Basketball at Basketball Australia, where he leads the performance environment for national teams with a clear focus on international podium success. Before stepping into basketball, Rod spent years across the Australian high-performance system - including leadership roles with the Australian Institute of Sport and the Victorian Institute of Sport - driving connection across performance support networks and working across sports like rowing, athletics, sailing, and more. He’s also been on the ground at the highest level of global sport, playing a key role in athlete preparation and recovery for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. What makes this conversation unique is Rod’s lens - he’s not coming from a traditional basketball pathway, but from a system-wide, interdisciplinary performance background. So today, we dive into what basketball can learn from the broader high-performance system, how coaches can better connect with performance staff, and what it really takes to build environments that maximise athlete potential.