Local talent on new pro team look to fuel Montreal's rise as a basketball city

Hernst Laroche has a lot of stamps on his passport.

During his eight-year professional basketball career, the Montrealer has played in the Czech Republic, Tunisia, Argentina, France and Ukraine. His latest stop, however, is his most cherished.

He's home now.

Laroche will be one of the team captains for the Montreal Alliance, a team that's set to kick off its inaugural season in the Canadian Elite Basketball League (CEBL) on Wednesday.

"It means a lot. It means that I get to represent my city," said Laroche.

Ten of the Alliance's 17 players are from Quebec, and that's totally by design.

The team wants to win, but it also wants to contribute to Montreal's growing reputation as a basketball city.

"It's bigger than just us, you know what I'm saying?" said Kemy Ossé, the other team captain for the Alliance. "We're trying to put Quebec on the map."

WATCH | Kemy Ossé tells CBC's Doug Gelevan what it means to play at home:

The architect behind this Quebec-heavy roster is Joel Anthony, a Montrealer who played a decade in the NBA.

The Alliance's general manager won championships as a player with the Miami Heat in 2012 and 2013, star-studded teams that featured Lebron James and Dwyane Wade.

According to Anthony, building a winner in his hometown "would be about as fulfilling as anything that I've ever done."

"This is personal," he said after one of his team's practices at the Verdun Auditorium, the Alliance's home arena in the southwestern part of the city.

"This does mean a lot to me to be able to come back home and have an opportunity to really help in terms of building and adding to the basketball community in Montreal and Quebec." 

Local talents like Chris Boucher, Luguentz Dort and Khem Birch have made their marks in the NBA.