BIO: Kuany Kuany was born in Aweil (South Sudan). before moving to Australia where his family settled in Melbourne.

NBL EXPERIENCE

Kuany Kuany made his NBL debut with the Cairns Taipans at 23 years of age. He scored two points in his first game.

During his first season in the NBL, Kuany averaged 0.3 points, 0.7 rebounds, and 0.3 assists as the Taipans finished in sixth place (11-17).

2018/19
In 2018, Cairns chose to go in a new direction, parting ways with long-time coach Aaron Fearne after eight years of him patrolling the sidelines. Mike Kelly was brought in as his replacement and was tasked with rebuilding a roster that had already lost key players Cameron Gliddon (to Brisbane), Mitchell McCarron (to Melbourne), Jarrad Weeks (to New Zealand), and Stephen Weigh (retired).

With only a short time before the season kicked off, Kelly bolstered the roster by adding free agent Rob Loe (via New Zealand) and a new import trio consisting of Melo Trimble, Devon Hall, and DJ Newbill, while Nathan Jawai and Alex Loughton were retained for their experience and leadership.

Cairns started the season with a dominant victory over Brisbane (88-70) in their opening game, but consistency soon became an issue. The team endured a six-game losing streak between 21 October and 9 November 2018. Despite these struggles, the Taipans managed some impressive wins later in the season, including a surprise victory over Perth (81-79) and a dominant win over Brisbane (109-80), but an inability to consistently win at home (3-11) or away (3-11) saw them finish the season dead last.

While wins were few and far between, Melo Trimble (21.9 points, 3.8 rebounds, 4.6 assists, and 1.2 steals) and DJ Newbill (14.3 points, 4.0 rebounds, 2.5 assists, and 1.1 steals) formed a powerful one-two punch this season. Trimble earned a spot on the All-NBL Second Team and was named the Taipans’ club MVP at the end of the season.

Kuany Kuany (2.2 points and 1.4 rebounds) provided valuable depth off the bench, contributing with energy on both ends of the floor. His defense and hustle made him a reliable rotational player for the Taipans throughout the season.

Kuany’s best games this season included a career best 10-point, 6-rebound effort against New Zealand (9 Nov 2018) and a 6-point, 5-rebound, 1-assist, 2-steal performance against Illawarra (26 Jan 2019).

The lack of pre-season preparation and large roster turnover prevented the Taipans from building momentum, leading to one of the worst records in franchise history (6-22).

SYDNEY KINGS
2019/20
Having spent the last two seasons at Cairns, where he appeared in 29 games, Kuany headed to Sydney to play for former coach Andrew Gaze.

To date, Sydney had underdelivered with Gaze as coach, the Kings went a different direction in 2019 and signed Will Weaver, a current assistant coach on the Australian Boomers, as the team’s head coach. With Melbourne deciding not to take on the optional third of Moller’s contract, he would return to Sydney, signing a two-year deal (15 April 2019).

Sydney’s other moves included re-signing Kevin Lisch on a multi-year deal, replacing imports Jerome Randle with Casper Ware (via Melbourne) and David Wear with Jae’Sean Tate. Weaver would add local talent Xavier Cooks (Winthorp Univesity), Shaun Bruce (via Adelaide) and Lucas Walker (via Cairns).

With the NBL ramping up it’s ‘Next Stars’ program, the Kings also acquired Didi Louzada, who had just been drafted by the NBA’s New Orleans Pelicans, as an additional part of their roster.

The team suffered a major injury set-back when Kevin Lisch (6.9 points, 1.7 rebounds, 1.7 assists, and 1.1 steals) suffered a left ankle fracture in Round 2 of the season and was subsequently ruled out for two months. Sydney added import Deshon Taylor (6.6 points, 1.1 rebounds, and 1 assists), who had been released by the Adelaide 36ers in the pre-season until Lisch was able to return in February. He managed to play the final three games of the regular season to help the Kings finish in first-place (20–8).

During Moller’s second stint with the Kings, He appeared in the first 11 games of the 2019/20 season before missing the next 16 games with a right ankle injury. Moller (7.4 points, 4.7 rebounds, and 1.3 assists) returned to play in the Kings’ final regular season game, just in time for the playoffs.

Weaver had constructed a Kings team that delivered a well-balanced attack, proving almost unstoppable during the regular season. Casper Ware (19.6 points, 2.5 rebounds, and 3.9 assists) led the team in scoring, while Jae’Sean Tate (16.4 points, 6 rebounds, and 1.9 assists 1.1 steals) showcased an all-around game that not only saw him named in the All-NBL First Team, and Kings club MVP but resulted in him gaining an NBA contract with Houston the following year.

Andrew Bogut (8.2 points, 8.8 rebounds, 2.7 assists, and 1.1 blocks), who showed clear signs of slowing down, was still able to make a huge impact at the defensive end and was named to the league’s All-NBL second team.

Sydney went on to defeat Melbourne in the semifinals (2-1), and would face off against Perth in the Grand Final.

Game one saw the Kings lose a nailbiter (86-88), with Lisch (17 points) leading the team in scoring. As the teams prepared for game two in Perth, it was decided that the remaining games would all take place with no fans in the building. Without a single fan in the building, the Kings evened the series (1-1) thanks to Jae’Sean Tate (21 points) nailing seven of his nine shots and Andrew Bogut (24 points and 14 rebounds) having one of his best games of the season.

In game three of the grand final series against the Sydney Kings, Kay (30 points, 12 rebounds and 4 assists) delivered a career high scoring effort, including seven three-pointers alongside Cotton (31 points, 7 rebounds, and 7 assists) to propel Perth to a game three victory (111–96).

Prior to game four, the Sydney Kings chose to withdraw from the series due to uncertainties of the coronavirus and travel restrictions. With multiple Kings players based overseas, many were concerned the restrictions would prevent any return home. After a week spent deliberating, it was decided Perth would be awarded the championship due to holding a 2-1 lead at the time, securing their tenth title. After averaging 30.0 points, 6.0 rebounds, and 4.7 assists over the three games, Cotton was named Grand Final MVP for the second time in four years, becoming the first player in Wildcats history to be named league MVP, Grand Final MVP and win a championship all in the same season.

Kuany would average 1.3 points, 0.6 rebounds, and 0.3 assists in what would be his last NBL seaosn.

Kuany Kuany played three seasons in the NBL, playing for both the Cairns Taipans and the Sydney Kings. He averaged 1.6 points, 1.1 rebounds, and 0.2 assists in 35 NBL games.

Dan Boyce (833 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.