New Zealand basketball great Kenny McFadden, who has died, aged 61.
McFadden, who had battled polycystic kidney disease for the past five to six years, blazed a trail for American imports in New Zealand basketball and also spent a season with the Hobart Devils in 1992.
McFadden led his beloved Wellington Saints to repeated NBL glory in the mid to late 1980s before playing a short stint in the NBL under then player-coach Cal Bruton. The Devils struggled to earn wins in those days and after only three games, where he averaged 20 points, 3 rebounds and 7.3 assists, he was replaced with replaced by former league MVP Joe Hurst.
McFadden later went on to help develop a young talent named Steven Adams as a junior in Wellington, who would go on to become New Zealand’s best basketball player ever, an established NBA star, who currently plays for the Memphis Grizzlies.
Kenny McFadden was not just a coach. But a father figure for a lot of us who had the privilege of being coached by him. First impressions of him were always positive because of his contagious smile and swag.
— Steven Adams (@RealStevenAdams) March 24, 2022
McFadden arrived in New Zealand in 1982 from his hometown of East Lansing, Michigan, via Washington State University. He led the Saints to championships in 1984, ’85, ’87 and ’88.
He finished his NBL playing career with four titles with the Saints having played 252 NBL games and scored more than 5,000 points, finishing with a career average of 20 per game.
I woke up to some very sad news on the timeline today. Rest in peace to the legendary Kenny McFadden. Kenny’s contributions to basketball in Aotearoa and the early days of the local hip-hop scene are incalculable. Thank you for doing so much, for so many, Kenny. pic.twitter.com/hi80fqVZRG
— Martyn Pepperell (@martynpepperell) March 24, 2022
His No 5 jersey was retired in his honour – and now hangs from their clubroom rafters in recognition of his incredible career.
In addition to championship success, McFadden was also a two-time scoring champion, a three-time assist champion and last year was named the second-greatest NBL player of all time.
Following his retirement in 1996, McFadden became heavily involved with junior player development, founding his own hoops academy in Wellington as well as coaching the Junior Tall Blacks to the under-19 world championships in 2009.
In 2010 and 2011, he served as an assistant coach for the Saints under coach current Tall Blacks coach Pero Cameron, returning to the role in 2019 under coach Paul Henare.
Here’s a clip of Kenny McFadden rapping on the New Zealand TV show Spot On in the mid 80s. Rest well, Kenny. pic.twitter.com/WV8SnVnuZ4
— Martyn Pepperell (@martynpepperell) March 24, 2022
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.
