BIO: Ater James came to Australia as a refugee from Sudan’s civil war 1987. He migrated to Sydney through a refugee camp in Egypt. Upon arrival in Sydney, he bonded with a group of young men also from Sudan, called the South Stars basketball team. He attended high school at St Aloysius’ College and Parramatta Marist High School in Sydney, and the American International School in Carlingford where he graduated in 2008. After graduating, he committed to the University of Connecticut.

He now holds the Lebanese and Australian nationalities.

FAMILY: Is the cousin of current Perth Wildcat centre Majok Majok

NBL EXPERIENCE

Ater Majok made his NBL debut with the Gold Coast Blaze at 23 years of age. He scored seven points in his first game.

After winning the 2010 championship, Wildcats legends Paul Rogers and Martin Cattalini decided to retire, leaving room for Perth to bring in some younger talent. Ater Majok, Greg Hire, Cameron Tovey, Jeremiah Trueman, and big man Matthew Knight being the key addition. Perth had beaten out multiple offers from both European and NBL team’s offering contracts to Knight, who had spent the past season playing in Hungary. During the off-season, he was pursued by multiple European and NBL clubs, but Knight, who had previously played under coach Rob Beveridge and alongside Damian Martin with the Sydney Spirit before they exited the NBL, ultimately chose to sign with the Wildcats. Another major coup came with the team being able to retain star import Kevin Lisch despite him several European clubs offering him much larger contracts and re-signed Shawn Redhage (three-year deal).

Knight’s debut season for the Wildcats began positively before tearing his left calf muscle in a win over Melbourne (12 Dec). The injury ruled Knight out for two months, and a injury to Jesse Wagstaff (ankle ligaments) saw him on the sidelines as well shortly after. On Christmas Eve, the Wildcats signed Ater Majok (7.5 points, 2.8 rebounds, and 2.0 blocks) to a six-week deal as an injury replacement for Jesse Wagstaff and Matthew Knight. 8 games later Majok was released due to behavioural issues. Despite his short stint in Perth, Majok became a favourite amongst the Wildcat’s fans with due to his shot blocking ability, blocking a total of 11 shots in his first three games. This forced coach Beveridge to sign former NBA big man Andre Brown (9.3 points, 6.7 rebounds, and 0.6 steals) in a attempt to improve the interior weaknesses since losing Knight (12.4 points and 6.7 rebounds) and Wagstaff (8.4 points and 4.3 rebounds).

Perth would go on to win the NBL championship while Majok would sign with rival team Gold Coast a few months later.

GOLD COAST BLAZE
2010/11
On 12 February 2011, Majok signed with the Gold Coast Blaze for the rest of the 2010/11 season as an injury replacement for Mark Worthington. On 22 March 2011, just days before the Gold Coast’s final home game of the 2010–11 NBL season against the Adelaide 36ers, Majok was released by the club so that he could advance his preparations and seek out training-camp opportunities in the United States prior to the 2011 NBA draft. In 6 games for the Blaze, he averaged 2.8 points and 2.3 rebounds per game. Gold Coast would go on to finish in sixth place (13-15).

NEW ZEALAND BREAKERS
2019/20
After finishing sixth with a 12-16 record under Kevin Braswell the previous season, New Zealand appointed Dan Shamir as Director of Basketball and made significant changes to its roster. Shea Ili (to Melbourne), Shawn Long (to Melbourne), Tai Wesley (to South East Melbourne) and Majok Majok (to Perth) departed, while Rob Loe (via Cairns), Next Star RJ Hampton (via Little Elm High School), Scotty Hopson (via Hapoel Holon), Sek Henry (via Pınar Karşıyaka) and Brandon Ashley (via APOEL Nicosia) were among the additions. Ater Majok (via Shaanxi Xinda) also returned to the NBL for the first time since playing for Perth and Gold Coast in 2010/11, signing with the Breakers in August alongside Henry and Chris Obekpa. Despite representing Lebanon internationally, his Australian passport meant he was classified as a local player and did not occupy an import position.

Following an impressive FIBA World Cup campaign, Corey Webster sought a release to join Darüşşafaka in Turkey, offering $100,000 towards his own buyout while the Turkish club offered another $25,000, but New Zealand rejected the move. Reports that co-owner Matt Walsh had described Webster as the “worst statistical starting shooting guard in the NBL” added to the dispute, although Walsh later clarified the comment related to statistical comparisons from the previous season. Obekpa was also released before the season after a lingering knee injury prevented him from getting healthy and was replaced by Ashley.

New Zealand opened its season against Sydney at Qudos Bank Arena on October 18, where the returning centre played 4:10 off the bench and recorded 1 assist as the Kings defeated the Breakers 96-91. Hopson (27 points, 7 rebounds, 3 assists, and 2 steals) and Webster (21 points, 3 assists, 1 steal, and 1 block) led New Zealand, while Casper Ware (27 points, 4 rebounds, and 5 assists) led Sydney.

Majok (1.7 points across 10 games) remained at the end of Shamir’s frontcourt rotation, averaging 7.1 minutes and appearing in only 10 games. No injury was reported as the reason for his limited appearances, although he battled illness during the first month of the season.

Against Illawarra on October 24, Majok (1 point, 3 rebounds, 3 assists, and 2 blocks) played a season-high 15:29 off the bench and contributed at both ends as New Zealand recorded its first win with a 103-72 victory at Spark Arena. Henry (21 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists, and 3 steals), Hopson (17 points and 10 rebounds) and Webster (17 points and 6 assists) led the Breakers, while Aaron Brooks (19 points) was Illawarra’s leading scorer and LaMelo Ball (10 points, 7 rebounds, 4 assists, and 2 steals) faced Hampton (8 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists, and 2 blocks) in the first highly-publicised meeting between the two Next Stars.

Majok’s best game came against Cairns on October 31, where he fought through illness and made all four of his field goal attempts to finish with 8 points, 5 rebounds, 1 assist, and 1 block in 14 minutes as New Zealand defeated the Taipans 93-85. With Loe and Finn Delany already sidelined, Hopson (7 points and 3 assists) suffered a knee injury during the second quarter, leaving New Zealand even further depleted, but Webster (23 points, 3 rebounds, 8 assists, and 2 steals), Hampton (18 points and 3 steals) and Ashley (14 points and 11 rebounds) helped the Breakers secure the win, while Cameron Oliver (23 points, 5 rebounds, and 3 blocks) led Cairns. Majok made several important plays at both ends during the third quarter as New Zealand regained control after Cairns had erased an 11-point halftime deficit.

Majok’s second-highest scoring performance came against Adelaide on November 24, where Majok (6 points, 3 rebounds, and 1 block) made his only field goal and all four free throws in 10 minutes as the 36ers defeated New Zealand 117-100 at Adelaide Entertainment Centre. Henry (18 points), Hampton (15 points, 4 rebounds, and 5 assists) and Webster (14 points) led the Breakers, although Webster suffered an ankle injury during the second quarter and was taken to hospital, while Eric Griffin (24 points) and Daniel Johnson (19 points and 11 rebounds) led Adelaide.

The Breakers’ difficult start also included injuries to Delany (11.8 points and 5.7 rebounds across 20 games), Loe (9.3 points and 4 rebounds across 20 games), Hopson (18.3 points, 5.7 rebounds, and 4.5 assists across 21 games) and Webster (19.5 points, 3.8 rebounds, and 4.3 assists across 11 games). Glen Rice Jr (25 points, 6.7 rebounds, 3.7 assists, and 1.3 steals across 3 games) was signed as Hopson’s injury replacement before being suspended and eventually released following off-court incidents, while Webster was bought out of his contract in December (to China).

Majok’s final appearance came against Adelaide at Spark Arena on December 15, where Majok (0 points) played 1:47 as New Zealand suffered a 99-96 loss. Thomas Abercrombie (22 points, 9 rebounds, and 3 steals), Henry (20 points) and Loe (13 points and 7 rebounds) led the Breakers, while Jerome Randle (29 points and 4 assists) and Johnson (26 points and 6 rebounds) led Adelaide.

Majok did not appear again after the Adelaide game, with no injury reported as the reason for his absence from the remainder of New Zealand’s schedule. Henry (13.2 points and 3.4 assists across 26 games), Abercrombie (11.8 points and 4.3 rebounds across 28 games), Ashley (10.5 points and 6.3 rebounds across 28 games), Hampton (8.8 points and 3.8 rebounds across 15 games) and Jarrad Weeks (5.6 points across 25 games) joined Hopson, Webster, Delany and Loe as New Zealand’s major contributors. Abercrombie became the first New Zealander and only the second NBL player after Daniel Kickert to complete a 50-40-90 season and was named the Breakers’ MVP and Defensive Player of the Year, while Hopson earned All-NBL Second Team honours and was named the Members Choice MVP.

After falling to 4-10, New Zealand won 11 of its final 14 games to finish sixth with a 15-13 record and miss the playoffs on points percentage. Majok did not return the following season and departed New Zealand (to Qatar).

Ater Majok played three seasons across three NBL teams. This included the Gold Coast Blaze, Perth Wildcats and New Zealand Breakers. He averaged 3.9 points, 2.1 rebounds, and 0.3 assists in 24 NBL games.