Hisense Australia talks to three NBL Sydney Kings hotshots to learn what it’s like to turn what you love into what you do.
After catching his dream to play in the NBA in 2007, Kings Swingman Brad Newley signed to the Houston Rockets, but rather then going straight into the US mega league, he moved to Europe to get some more experience.
His first stop was Greece, and the cultural difference was immediately obvious; a thick cloud of cigarette smoke rose above the crowd as he stepped out onto the court.
“Everybody smokes in the stadiums [over there]. I couldn’t see the court.”
With a Greek coach screaming in one ear and a squad of foreign teammates calling out in the other, Newley discovered just how much basketball success depends on non-verbal communication.
Luckily for this 6’6” Adelaide giant, he received a piece of advice that would get him through these early days.
“I had a bit of a tip. When I was at training, I’d always go behind one of the local guys — so when I was in Greece, I’d watch the Greek guy and do what he does,” Newley says. “Then I would just follow him, and try and do a better job of what he was doing.
“It was kind of an advantage for me. That’s pretty much how I went about it for my first few years.”
Kings point guard Jason Cadee says learning to pick up on physical cues is actually key to predicting game play — and fundamentally important for teams to play well together.
“You gradually get an idea and a feel for each other. When you’re a team that wins, normally that’s why,” Cadee says. “They have a great feel for each other and they are on the same page, and those things take time.”
At 25 Cadee is the King’s ‘young-gun’ set amongst a squad of grizzly veterans, but was picked regardless for the NBL’s 2016/17 starting team and is already a season standout.
Spending the last 5 years circuiting the top leagues in Australia and New Zealand, Cadee remembers his ‘big games’ as a toss up between nerves and excitement.
“Qudos Bank Arena is a massive stadium with an NBA-type feel. It’s a cool feeling being at home, running out in front of your home fans,” he says. “There’s more excitement than nerves and once you hear the fans and the voices and people into it and loving the music, you get excited and feel really good about yourself.”
More Than a Game
But is pro sport all about winning? Kings Center Aleks Marić has lifted championship cups across European leagues from Montenegro to Greece, and knows there is no better feeling that being ranked ‘the best’.
But what Marić thrives on, what he gets up in the morning for — is the pre-game ritual.
“You start off in the morning. You come for the shoot around; you smell the popcorn, the sausage rolls, that game-day smell. Everyone’s got their game-day look. You see people walking around the stands, putting T-shirts on the chairs, all the front-office staff running around to make sure everything’s set,” Marić says. “
Posters are up. You come back that evening and see the crowd start rolling in slowly, and the music. That game-day atmosphere, those butterflies — and you’re really anxious.”
For professional athletes, managing anxiety and delivering performance is part of the job description. But as these three players look back on the sights, smells, and tastes that basketball has served up for them, Marić sums it up best.
“Life. Basketball’s my life. It gave me everything. From one day not doing anything, to having a professional career. You can’t ask for anything better,” he says. “Any professional athlete in the world will tell you the same. If they tell you something else, they’re definitely lying.”
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