BIO: Adonis Jordan was born as the fourth son to Josephine Jordan in Brooklyn, New York. His mother named her son after the Greek mythological character Adonis, a handsome young man who was fabled to be the love interest of the goddess Aphrodite. She worked as a secretary for a insurance company while her son spent his time playing pick-up street basketball on Brooklyn blacktop courts.

Jordan was enrolled by his mother at Theodore Roosevelt High School in Yonkers, New York, across town from where she worked.

Although the decision necessitated a 45-minute commute each way, she could be assured that her son would receive a education in a safer environment compared to their Brooklyn surroundings.

Jordan played high school basketball at Roosevelt High and blossomed in his second year, being one of only two sophomores named to the New York All-City team.

However, Jordan’s stay in New York was cut short when his mother suddenly decided to relocate to California in 1987 after a two-week visit to see relatives in the state.

He was a extra in the film 1994 film Blue Chips starring Shaquille O’Neal, Anfernee Hardaway and Nick Nolte.

NBL EXPERIENCE

Adonis Jordan made his NBL debut with the South East Melbourne Magic at 23 years of age. He scored 12 points in his first game.

After losing to crosstown rivals, the Melbourne Tigers head coach Brian Goorjian decided the Magic needed to go younger and chose not to re-sign veteran guards, Darren Perry and Robert Rose, replacing them with younger talent. 18-year-old Sam MacKinnon and Rupert Sapwell, who had just returned from playing college basketball, were added to the roster, and Adonis Jordan, who had led the Kansas Jayhawks to the 1993 NCAA Final Four only six months prior, became the Magic’s sole import.

Jordan (19.9 points, 3.0 rebounds, 8.2 assists, and 2.6 steals) would lead the team in scoring and assists, alongside frontcourt duo Tony Ronaldson (19.4 points, 7.4 rebounds, 2.7 assists, and 1.1 steals) and Bruce Bolden (16.5 points, 8.9 rebounds, 2.2 assists, and 1.5 steals) doing the damage inside. MacKinnon (5.7 points, 3.3 rebounds and 2.8) would also make a immediate impact, earning his way into the team’s regular rotation (19.2 minutes per game) and delivering one of the greatest seasons ever by a 18-year-old which made him a easy choice for the league’s Rookie Of The Year Award.

In a interesting nod to the future, due to injury the Magic replaced him with state league star Mike Kelly who would become a major part of the Magic roster in 1997.

South East Melbourne was unbeatable at home all season (11-2) butcould never replicate that on the road, losing half their away games and finishing third on the ladder (18-18).

In the postseason, South East swept Perth in two games to set up a semi-finals matchup against crosstown rival North Melbourne. The Giants delivered a major upset in game one, convincingly defeating the Magic (108-87). In game two, it was much closer. In fact, the game was only decided in the final minute (76-79), and if Adonis Jordan hadn’t missed a three-point heave at the buzzer (many thought he could have made a extra pass to a open David Graham for a better shot), the Magic might have been able to force a third game. Instead, the South East Melbourne’s season came to a end.

1995
Brian Goorjian’s youth movement continued in 1995. After moving on from star import Robert Rose the season prior, veteran big man Bruce Bolden would not be offered a chance to return (he would move on to sign with the Sydney Kings), with his replacement coming in the form of young 7-footer Chris Anstey from the Melbourne Tigers.

Anstey’s move to the Magic was one of huge controversy when Melbourne coach Lindsey Gaze appealed the signing via the NBL tribunal. The NBL decided that Anstey could not leave the Tigers and would have to play for Melbourne as long as the Tigers could match the contract, which they did.

After some extremely creative salary tweaking where Magic CEO Graham McNaney and Goorjian convinced all of the Magic players to sign for less so they could offer Anstey a larger contract (which also fit within the NBL salary cap) that the Tigers couldn’t match. Once Anstey had signed with the Magic, all of the team’s players were reinstated to their previous contracts.

After the Anstey deal was done, the Magic rounded out the roster by adding Nunawading junior Jason Smith, re-signing import Adonis Jordan and pairing him with Richard ‘Scooter’ Barry, son of NBA Hall of Famer Rick Barry. Unfortunately, Barry (14.3 points, 2.8 rebounds, 5.3 assists, and 2.3 steals) didn’t quite make the impact in the NBL that his father had in the NBA and was shown the door after four games. Goorjian chose to elevate 23-year-old development player Shane Bright (0.3 points, 0.4 rebounds, and 0.6 assists) for the remaining games instead of bringing in another import, aiming to give his young local core of MacKinnon, Anstey and Smith as much playing time as possible.

The Magic went on to finish second on the ladder (18-8), with Tony Ronaldson (21.5 points, 6.7 rebounds, 3.9 assists, and 1.0 steals) leading the team in scoring and Jordan (20.0 points, 2.9 rebounds, 5.9 assists, and 1.8 steals) leading the Magic in assists.

Additionally, 33-year-old big man John Dorge (16.1 points, 12.3 rebounds, 1.1 steals, and 3.0 blocks) turned the clock back and delivered a breakout season, leading the league in blocked shots. Dorge’s improved play saw him selected to the All-NBL first team at the end of the season while backup guard Darren Lucas (9.4 points, 4.6 rebounds, 3.7 assists, and 1.8 steals) took home the league’s Best Defensive Player award.

In the postseason, the Magic lost game one of their quarterfinal matchup with the Illawarra (108-113), then returned to Melbourne to win both games two (92-89) and three (93-75). Moving onto the semi-finals, South East Melbourne would face North Melbourne and saw their season end early thanks to losses in both games one (77-98) and game three (92-107).

VICTORIA GIANTS
2002/03 – TITANS BECOME GIANTS
After Victoria Titans folded in mid-2002, a group fronted by businessman Peter Fiddes was granted a licence in their place, and with new ownership primarily made up of former North Melbourne personnel, still upset about the Giants/Magic merger in 1998, re-branded the team to the Giants.

The team was put together on a shoestring budget and could not retain head coach Brian Goorjian nor the majority of the team’s higher-profile talent. The club was able to re-sign veteran Darryl McDonald and import Jamahl Mosely to new (reduced) deals but lacked the financial backing to re-sign much of the local talent losing Chris Anstey, Jason Smith and Mark Dickel to more lucrative European contracts and Tony Ronaldson and Brett Wheeler to the Perth Wildcats.

The Giants had been able to re-sign some of the Titans’ younger talent, Nathan Crosswell, Darren Smith and Marcus Wright and committed to giving them increased minutes and becoming a club focused on giving young Aussie talent a pathway to the NBL. This saw the team fill the remaining roster spots with young players who had been playing in the state leagues, giving them their first big break into the national league. Nik Mirich, who had just graduated from George Mason University, was signed, both Lindsey Tait and Miles Pearce were recruited from the semi-professional New Zealand NBL and Rhys Carter (AIS), David Cooper (Dandenong Rangers) and 36-year-old David Biwer (Nunawading) who had all been playing in the SEABL state league rounded out the bench.

The team would be led by former North Melbourne backup guard Mark Wright, who helped the Giants win a championship in 1989. First year coach Wright and the Giants and budget roster had been picked to finish last on the ladder and began the season with a road loss to Perth (95-85). The team would then surprise everyone by beating the West Sydney Razorbacks in their home opener (122–106) before destroying their cross-town rivals Melbourne (130–102).

The team were led by Jamahl Mosely (21.2 points, 9.5 rebounds), captain Darryl McDonald (14.5 points, 5.7 rebounds, 7.5 assists, and 2.4 steals), who led the league in steals, and Nathan Crosswell (15.1 points and 2.9 assists), who grabbed the increased playing opportunities by the horns and moved into the starting lineup.

By round nine, the Giants were sitting on a respectable record (4-5) and sat middle of the NBL ladder. The wheels truly fell off from here, however, as the team lost the next seven games in a row, culminating with the release of import forward Dusty Rychart (16.5 points and 8.3 rebounds) was viewed as underperforming. Behind the scenes, the Giants had made a offer to a athletic big man Pero Vasiljevic, who had exited his deal with Canberra due to their financial instability. The front office was enamoured with Adonis Jordan, a key player during Magic v Giants rivalries of old that had recently been released from Townsville as Rychart’s replacement before letting him go. However, Jordan (19.4 points, 1.6 rebounds, and 4.0 assists) failed to change anything in the Giant’s win-loss column, with Victoria finishing the season with four wins in their final ten games. Injuries also took their toll during this period, with Darren Smith (13.6 points, 5.6 rebounds, 1.6 assists, and 1.1 steals) injuring his knee’s medial and cruciate ligaments, forcing him to miss the second half of the season. Jamahl Mosley (finger) and Marcus Wright (leg) would also both miss a month’s worth of games, resulting in the Giants finishing the season in second last place (9-21).

Carter would see minimal playing time as a rookie, appearing in 8 games and averaging 1.0 points, 0.4 rebounds, and 0.5 steals.

Jamahl Mosley (21.2 points, 9.5 rebounds, and 1 assists 0.4 steals, 0.7 blocks across 26 games
Adonis Jordan (19.4 points, 1.6 rebounds, and 4 assists 0.8 steals, 0.1 blocks across 13 games
Dusty Rychart (16.5 points, 7.9 rebounds, and 0.9 assists 0.6 steals, 0.5 blocks across 14 games
Pero Vasiljevic (16.5 points, 8.3 rebounds, and 1.3 assists 0.6 steals, 1 blocks across 16 games
Nathan Crosswell (15.1 points, 2.8 rebounds, and 2.9 assists 0.8 steals, 0.1 blocks across 30 games
Darryl Mcdonald (14.5 points, 5.7 rebounds, and 7.5 assists 2.4 steals, 0.7 blocks across 30 games
Darren Smith (13.6 points, 5.6 rebounds, and 1.6 assists 1.1 steals, 0.5 blocks across 17 games
David Biwer (7.8 points, 6.5 rebounds, and 1.5 assists 0.9 steals, 0.3 blocks across 30 games
Marcus Wright (4.3 points, 1.6 rebounds, and 0.4 assists 0.4 steals, 0.1 blocks across 17 games
David Cooper (3.6 points, 4 rebounds, and 0.4 assists 0.2 steals, 0.8 blocks across 30 games
Nik Mirich (2.8 points, 2.8 rebounds, and 0.6 assists 0.1 steals, 0.3 blocks across 27 games
Jon Croft (2 points, 1.9 rebounds, and 0 assists 0.2 steals, 0.2 blocks across 9 games
Rhys Carter (1 points, 0.4 rebounds, and 0.4 assists 0.5 steals, 0.1 blocks across 8 games
Miles Pearce (1 points, 1.3 rebounds, and 0.2 assists 0.1 steals, 0.1 blocks across 12 games
Patrick Pinto (0 points, 0 rebounds, and 0 assists 0 steals, 0 blocks across 1 games
Lindsay Tait (0 points, 0 rebounds, and 0 assists 0 steals, 0 blocks across 1 games”

Adonis Jordan played four seasons across three NBL teams. This included the South East Melbourne Magic, Victoria Giants and Townsville Crocodiles. He averaged 19.8 points, 2.7 rebounds, and 6.3 assists in 76 NBL games.

CAREER RANKINGS:
– 17th in assists per game.

Dan Boyce (817 Posts)

Dan Boyce is a die-hard Sydney Kings fan who grew up in Melbourne during the roaring 90's of Australian Basketball and spent far too much time collecting Futera NBL Basketball cards.