Nathan Jawai

Nathan Leon Jawai (born 10 October 1986) is an Australian professional basketball player for the Darwin Salties of the NBL1 North. Standing at 209 cm, he plays at the power forward and centre positions.

Nathan Jawai
Jawai in December 2014
No. 15 – Darwin Salties
PositionPower forward / center
LeagueNBL1 North
Personal information
Born (1986-10-10) 10 October 1986
Sydney, New South Wales
NationalityAustralian
Listed height209 cm (6 ft 10 in)
Listed weight130 kg (287 lb)
Career information
High schoolSt Augustine's College
(Cairns, Queensland)
CollegeMidland (2006–2007)
NBA draft2008: 2nd round, 41st overall pick
Selected by the Indiana Pacers
Playing career2004–present
Career history
2004Cairns Marlins
2005–2006Australian Institute of Sport
2007Cairns Marlins
2007–2008Cairns Taipans
2008–2009Toronto Raptors
2009→Idaho Stampede
2009–2010Minnesota Timberwolves
2010→Sioux Falls Skyforce
2010–2011Partizan Belgrade
2011–2012UNICS Kazan
2012Cairns Marlins
2012–2013Barcelona
2013–2014Galatasaray Liv Hospital
2014–2015MoraBanc Andorra
2015–2016Perth Wildcats
2016–2022Cairns Taipans
2019Levallois Metropolitans
2021Cairns Marlins
2022–presentDarwin Salties
Career highlights and awards
Stats  at NBA.com
Stats  at Basketball-Reference.com

Early life

Born at the Royal Hospital for Women in the Sydney suburb of Paddington on 10 October 1986, Jawai lived in Sydney for a year before his parents, Lynette and Ron, moved back to Bamaga, a small town of about 1000 people, located north of the Jardine River and only 40 km from the tip of Cape York Peninsula.[1] He is an Indigenous Australian of Torres Strait Islander descent.[2] He is the cousin of NBA basketball player Patty Mills,[3] rugby league NRL players Edrick Lee[4] and Brenko Lee. Jawai's uncle is former Olympian basketballer Danny Morseu, the second Indigenous Australian to represent Australia at the Olympics in basketball.[5] Jawai’s great uncle is Indigenous land rights activist Eddie Mabo.[6]

Like most children on Cape York, he played rugby league throughout primary school and early high school.[7] However, living in a remote indigenous community meant Jawai was subject to a lot of bad influences and was often getting in trouble due to the stain of drug and alcohol abuse.[8][9] Strong parental guidance and the decision to send Jawai to high school at St Augustine's College in Cairns ensured he stayed away from bad influences. At the age of 15, Jawai began playing basketball, and it only took him two years until he began playing competitively for the Cairns Marlins of the Queensland Basketball League in 2004.[10] He then spent two years at the Australian Institute of Sport in Canberra[11] before venturing to the United States in 2006 to play college basketball for Midland College. However, after just one season with Midland, Jawai returned to Australia and had surgery to remove the meniscus in his right knee.[12] With his move back home, he had hopes of joining an NBL club.[13] He subsequently re-joined the Cairns Marlins and helped guide them to a national title in 2007 while earning ACC All-Star Five honours.[14]

Professional career

Cairns Taipans

Jawai's play with the Cairns Taipans' feeder team, the Cairns Marlins, earned him a spot on the Taipans roster for the 2007–08 NBL season.[13] In 31 games for the Taipans, Jawai averaged 17.3 points, 9.4 rebounds and 1.9 assists per game. His season highs for points and rebounds was 28 and 18 respectively.[15]

NBA

Jawai was drafted 41st overall in the 2008 NBA draft by the Indiana Pacers; however, his rights were traded to the Toronto Raptors in a deal that also brought Jermaine O'Neal to Toronto in exchange for T. J. Ford, Rasho Nesterović, Maceo Baston, and the draft rights to Roy Hibbert.[16][17] On 11 July 2008, he signed a two-year deal with the Raptors,[16] and the nicknames soon rolled in with "Aussie Shaq", "Outback Shaq" and "Baby Shaq", due to his resemblance to Shaquille O'Neal.[18][19] He was also nicknamed "Big Nate" by Toronto commentators.[20]

On 17 December 2008, Jawai was cleared to resume training after enduring a worrisome period in which he was not allowed to undergo physical activity. Jawai was required to 'rest', due to a routine pre-season test which revealed a cardiac abnormality.[21] On 21 January 2009, Jawai made his NBA debut against the Detroit Pistons at The Palace of Auburn Hills,[22] becoming the first indigenous Australian to play in the NBA.[23]

On 26 February 2009, Jawai was assigned by the Raptors to the Idaho Stampede of the NBA Development League.[24] In his first start (his second game), he registered 12 points, 5 rebounds and a team-high 3 blocks in Idaho's 104–96 win over the Utah Flash.[25] Jawai was recalled from the D-League on 23 March 2009.[26]

On 9 July 2009, Jawai was traded to the Dallas Mavericks as a part of the four-team trade that also involved the Orlando Magic and Memphis Grizzlies.[27] Later that year, on 20 October 2009, Jawai was traded to the Minnesota Timberwolves in exchange for a conditional second-round pick in the 2012 NBA draft.[28]

On 8 November 2009, Jawai played arguably the best game of his NBA career, scoring a team-high 16 points and grabbing six rebounds in a game against the Portland Trail Blazers.[29]

On 19 February 2010, Jawai was sent to the Sioux Falls Skyforce of the NBA D-League for a short stint.[30] He was recalled on 21 February 2010,[31] and sent back on 31 March 2010.[32]

Europe
Jawai with Galatasaray Liv Hospital in October 2013

On 18 August 2010, Jawai signed a one-year deal with the Serbian team Partizan Belgrade.[33]

In June 2011, Jawai signed a deal with the Russian team UNICS Kazan.[34] Following the conclusion of Kazan's season, Jawai returned to Cairns and joined the Marlins for a two-game stint.[35][36]

In July 2012, Jawai signed a deal with the Spanish team Barcelona Regal for the 2012–13 season.[37][38]

In July 2013, Jawai signed with the Turkish team Galatasaray Liv Hospital.[39] In October 2013, he sustained a traumatic neck injury while playing for Galatasaray. He had long-lasting effects because of the incident and temporarily couldn't see from one eye.[40] He subsequently managed just four total games for Galatasaray in 2013–14. Despite the circumstances, Jawai re-signed with the club in September 2014.[41] In December 2014, he left Galatasaray and signed with MoraBanc Andorra for the rest of the season.[42]

Perth Wildcats

On 28 August 2015, Jawai signed with the Perth Wildcats for the 2015–16 NBL season.[43] On 10 October 2015, Jawai made his debut for the Wildcats in the team's season opener, where he recorded 11 points and six rebounds in 21 minutes in a 79–66 win over the Adelaide 36ers.[44] On 22 November 2015, he scored a season-high 20 points in a 91–90 win over his former team, the Cairns Taipans.[45] On 21 January 2016, he had his best game in two months, scoring 18 points in a 95–72 win over the Illawarra Hawks.[46] The Wildcats finished the regular season in second place with an 18–10 record and reached the NBL Grand Final series, where they defeated the New Zealand Breakers 2–1.[47] Jawai appeared in 32 of the team's 34 games in 2015–16, averaging 10.3 points, 4.1 rebounds and 1.8 assists per game.

Second stint with Cairns and return to Europe

On 3 June 2016, Jawai signed a three-year deal with the Cairns Taipans, returning to the club he began his career with in 2007. A major factor in his return to Cairns was his long-time mentor and Taipans head coach Aaron Fearne.[48][49] On 3 August 2016, he was ruled out for the entire NBL pre-season following finger surgery.[50] On 5 February 2017, he scored a season-high 22 points in an 85–77 win over the Perth Wildcats.[51]

On 10 October 2017, Jawai was ruled out for 12 weeks after suffering a partial tear of a ligament in his left foot in the Taipans' 2017–18 season opener four days earlier.[52]

On 3 April 2018, Jawai took up his player option with the Taipans for the 2018–19 season.[53]

On 17 February 2019, Jawai signed with French team Levallois Metropolitans for the rest of the 2018–19 Pro A season.[54] In 14 games, he averaged 5.8 points and 2.3 rebounds per game.[55]

On 4 August 2019, Jawai re-signed with the Taipans for the 2019–20 NBL season.[56]

On 3 August 2020, Jawai re-signed again with the Taipans on a two-year deal.[57]

On 9 June 2021, Jawai joined the Cairns Marlins of the NBL1 North, marking his fourth stint with the team.[58]

Jawai missed most of February of the 2021–22 NBL season after suffering a partial Grade 2 tear of his right adductor.[59] He parted ways with the Taipans following the season.[60]

Darwin Salties

In May 2022, Jawai joined the Darwin Salties for their inaugural season in the NBL1 North.[61]

In February 2023, Jawai re-signed with the Salties for the 2023 NBL1 North season.[62]

Career statistics
Legend
  GP Games played   GS  Games started  MPG  Minutes per game
 FG%  Field-goal percentage  3P%  3-point field-goal percentage  FT%  Free-throw percentage
 RPG  Rebounds per game  APG  Assists per game  SPG  Steals per game
 BPG  Blocks per game  PPG  Points per game  PIR  Performance Index Rating
 Bold  Career high

Regular season
Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
2008–09 Toronto 603.2.250.000.000.3.0.0.0.3
2009–10 Minnesota 39210.6.441.000.6842.7.6.3.23.2
Career 4529.6.435.000.6842.4.5.2.22.8

Euroleague
Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG PIR
2010–11 Partizan 16722.9.459.000.7865.0.9.6.79.110.7
2011–12 UNICS 151014.1.547.000.6434.3.3.3.57.35.7
2012–13 Barcelona 30615.5.697.000.7104.7.4.3.87.19.1
2013–14 Galatasaray 2014.7.875.000.7272.5.5.5.5 11.0 14.0
Career 632317.0.582.000.7904.6.5.4.77.88.9

National team career

Jawai represented the Australian Boomers at the 2009 FIBA Oceania Championship and the 2014 FIBA World Cup. In November 2018, he was called up to the Boomers squad for the team's next window of 2019 FIBA World Cup qualifiers.[63][64]

Personal life

Jawai is the nephew of Danny Morseu, the first Indigenous Australian to play basketball for Australia.[7] Jawai has two daughters.[8]

See also

References
  1. Perth Wildcats superstar Nathan Jawai out to beast Adelaide 36ers when NBL season gets under way
  2. Murphy, Padraic (16 May 2008). "Indigenous basketballer Nathan Jawai shoots for top". The Australian. Retrieved 27 April 2015.
  3. Jawai,Nate (23 September 2018). "Cape York to the NBA & back". Athletes Voice. Retrieved 12 November 2021.
  4. Gaskin, Lee (29 May 2012). "Family man Lee makes mark at Raiders". SMH.com.au. Retrieved 3 November 2017.
  5. Davis, Sam (27 July 2012). "Former Boomer remembers Moscow Olympics". ABC.net.au. Retrieved 3 November 2017.
  6. Jawai,Nate (31 July 2020). "The Better I Got in Sports, the Worse the Racism Got". The New York Times. Retrieved 12 November 2021.
  7. Indigenous basketballer Nathan Jawai shoots for top
  8. Wildcats' wild ride to the top
  9. Nathan Jawai: "I want to be in the NBA next season"
  10. Jawai's historic Raptors contract
  11. "Past Athletes". ausport.gov.au. Archived from the original on 12 February 2014.
  12. "Jawai return imminent". NBL.com.au. 24 May 2007. Archived from the original on 13 September 2007. Retrieved 17 February 2016.
  13. The next Shaq is a Taipan
  14. "Basketball Australia 2007 Annual Report – Australian Club Championships Scoreboard" (PDF). SportingPulse.com. Archived from the original (PDF) on 18 May 2015. Retrieved 22 May 2015.
  15. "Player statistics for Nathan Jawai". FoxSportsPulse.com. Retrieved 5 December 2014.
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  17. "Pacers, Raptors complete trade sending O'Neal to Toronto". ESPN.com. 9 July 2008. Retrieved 5 December 2014.
  18. Hand, Guy (14 December 2007). "Aussie basketball has a new star". Foxsports.com.au. Archived from the original on 10 August 2011. Retrieved 5 December 2014.
  19. Ulmer, Mike (31 July 2008). "Talking With Nathan Jawai". NBA.com. Retrieved 5 December 2014.
  20. "Nathan Jawai vs Kings - All 1:49 of it !". Youtube.com. 25 January 2009. Archived from the original on 21 December 2021. Retrieved 5 December 2014.
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  22. "Toronto Raptors vs. Detroit Pistons - Play By Play". ESPN.com. 21 January 2009. Retrieved 5 December 2014.
  23. JAWAI RETURNS TO CAIRNS
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