NICKNAME/S: Big Nate, Outback Shaq, Aussie Shaq, Baby Shaq

BIO: The Bamaga born big man is one of the most decorated athletes out of Far North Queensland, beginning his basketball journey at CBI and going on to become the first Indigenous player ever to be drafted in the NBA.

Nathan Leon Jawai, a Indigenous Australian of Torres Strait Islander descent, was born in at the Royal Hospital for Women in the Sydney suburb of Paddington on 10 October 1986. Jawai lived in Sydney for a year before his parents, Lynette and Ron, moved back to Bamaga, a small town of about 1000 people, located north of the Jardine River and only 40 km from the tip of Cape York Peninsula.

Like most children on Cape York, he played rugby league throughout primary school and early high school. However, living in a remote indigenous community meant Jawai was subject to a lot of bad influences and was often getting in trouble due to the stain of drug and alcohol abuse. Strong parental guidance and the decision to send Jawai to high school at St Augustine’s College in Cairns ensured he stayed away from bad influences. At the age of 15, Jawai began playing basketball, and it only took him two years until he began playing competitively for the Cairns Marlins of the Queensland Basketball League in 2004.

While playing for the Toronto Raptors in the NBA he was dubbed Outback Shaq, a nickname that stuck but Jawai has publicly stated he does not appreciate. Jawai received a scholarship to attend the Australian Institute of Sport (Canberra) in 2005. He spent two years year there and played for the program’s state league team (2005, 2006).

NBL EXPERIENCE

Nathan Jawai made his NBL debut with the Cairns Taipans at 20 years of age. He scored 14 points in his first game.

Nathan Jawai’s play with the Cairns Taipans’ feeder team, the Cairns Marlins, earned him a spot on the Taipans roster for the 2007/08 NBL season.

In Jawai’s first year in the NBL he appeared in 31 games for the Taipans and averaged 17.3 points, 9.4 rebounds, and 1.9 assists per game. Jawai’s rookie season included a number of dominant performances, including a 22 point, 18 rebound effort against the Sydney Kings and a 28 point, 15 rebound haul against the Townsville Crocodiles. At the end of the year Jawai was a obvious choice for the 2008 NBL Rookie of the Year, while the Taipans finished in sixth place (16-14).

PERTH WILDCATS
2015/16
In 2015, Jawai decided to return to Australia to play a larger role in his daughter Kayah’s life and signed a deal to play with Perth for the 2015/16 NBL season.

On the heels of an injury-riddled season that ended in a semi-final defeat, similar to the 2010/11 season, coach Trevor Gleeson was confident heading into the 2015 season that he had a team capable of winning Perth’s seventh championship. After conceding his side struggled with chemistry issues the past season, Perth added import Casey Prather and backup guard Jarrod Kenny to correct team balance.

With the team’s acquisition of Jawai, an injury-free Matthew Knight was able to move to his natural position of power forward for the first time while Shawn Redhage was moved to a bench role. On 10 October 2015, Jawai made his debut for the Wildcats in the team’s season opener, where he recorded 11 points and six rebounds in 21 minutes in a win over Adelaide (79–66). He also went on to score a season-high 20 points in a win over former team, Cairns (91–90) in November.

This first month of the season began by losing Damian Martin (5.5 points, 4.4 rebounds, 3.3 assists, and 1.8 steals) after he suffered a broken jaw and missing teeth after an errant elbow from Townsville Crocodiles forward Brian Conklin. He returned to action by the end of the month, despite originally being ruled out for three weeks and in February, played his 200th game for the Wildcats.

Further injuries saw Wildcats leading scorer Casey Prather (16.3 points, 4.5 rebounds, and 1.8 assists 1.2 steals) also miss several games but with Jermaine Beal (15.7 points, 2.4 rebounds, and 3.6 assists) and a healthy combo of Knight (11.6 points, 7.9 rebounds, and 1.4 assists) and Jawai (10.3 points, 4.1 rebounds, and 1.8 assists), the Wildcats were able to remain ranked in the top two spots on the ladder all season.

The battle for the top spot saw Perth and Melbourne go back and forth, with the Wildcats on top for four rounds and United owning it for 14 rounds. Both teams faced off in some gruelling battles during the season, including a career-high 40-point night from Jermaine Beal, sinking ten three-pointers after not scoring at all in the first quarter as Perth dismantled Melbourne (113-83). A few weeks later, Melbourne took their revamp and defeated Perth (92–87) in a game that pushed the Wildcat’s into third position on the ladder for the only time that season.

A key storyline this season was the decline of veteran forward Shawn Redhage (6.6 points, 3.1 rebounds, and 1.4 assists), who averaged under 10 points per game for the first time in his career. Despite clear signs of slowing down, he still provided a valuable spark off the bench and managed to play in his 350th NBL game in January.

Perth finished the regular season in second place (18-10) and reached the playoffs for the 30th straight season, a streak not matched in any other Australian or American professional sport code. The Wildcats then went on to make light work of the Rob Beveridge led Illawarra Hawks, coming out with a game one win in the semifinals (80-68), with Prather (19 points) healthy and leading the Wildcats in scoring. In game two, the Hawks would even the series, thanks to Oscar Forman delivering the best playoff game of his career. Forman (21 points) barely missed, with Illawarra convincingly defeating Perth (104–87). Once the team to Perth, the Wildcats would close out the series (2-1) with a conclusive game three victory (89-74). In the final game, Beal (17 points) led the team in scoring, while Prather (15 points) made highlight reels with a thunderous one-handed slam over AJ Ogilvy early in the fourth quarter.

On the opposite side of the bracket, a surprise upset saw reigning champions New Zealand (16-12), who had narrowly made the playoffs as the third seed, eliminated top seed Melbourne in two straight games to face Perth in the championship series.

In game one, the Wildcat’s played some of their best basketball thanks to Jawai’s presence inside, Prather’s athleticism, Kenny’s ability to provide a spark while Damian Martin went to the bench… all of the critical factors they were lacking last season. The result being a six-point win (82–76) to open the series.

After struggling in game one, Beal (20 points) finished as the high scorer of game two but would also make a crucial late-game turnover in the dying seconds of the match that would cost Perth the game. Riding the hot form of Breakers guard Cedric Jackson (13 points, 9 rebounds, and 8 assists) who recorded a near triple-double, New Zealand were able to even the series with a win back in Auckland (72–68).

With the deciding game in Perth and 13,090 of the ‘Red Army’ in attendance, the Wildcats’ core of Redhage, Wagstaff, Knight, Hire, Beal and Jervis made sure history didn’t repeat itself. Casey Prather (19 points) and Jermaine Beal (14 points) did most of the damage on the scoreboard for the Wildcats, but it was Martin’s inspirational display in defence that shone the brightest. Martin would be named Grand Final MVP after keeping star Breakers guard Cedric Jackson scoreless in the deciding game as the Wildcat’s claimed their seventh championship in a blowout win (75–52).

On 16 August 2016, Redhage re-signed with the Wildcats for the 2016/17 NBL season after revealing he never seriously contemplated retirement following his injury in 2015.

CAIRNS TAIPANS
2016/17
In 2016, Jawai returned to Cairns and signed a three-year deal on June 3rd. A major factor in his return to Cairns was Taipans head coach Aaron Fearne who had been his coach as a teenager and played a large role in his basketball development.

Prior to the 2016/17 season suffered a finger injury which surgery on 3 August 2016 and was ruled out for the entire NBL Preseason. He made his season debut for the Taipans on 15 October 2016 in their second game of the 2016/17 season, recording five points and four rebounds in just under 17 minutes off the bench in a loss to Sydney (78-92). On 5 February 2017, he scored a season-high 22 points in a win over Perth (85–77).

Jawai averaged 10.1 points, 4.3 rebounds, and 1.1 assists for the season, playing a key role in the Taipans rotation and helped the team finish in second place (15-13).

2017/18
On 10 October 2017, Jawai was ruled out for 12 weeks after suffering a partial tear of a ligament in his left foot in the Taipans’ 2017/18 season opener four days earlier. Jawai was instrumental in the Taipans’ first game, coming off the bench to register 12 points and four rebounds before hurting his foot late in the second quarter.

In limited games Jawai was able to average 5.4 points and 2.7 rebounds for the season, while the Taipans finished in sixth place finish (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. On 3 April 2018, Jawai took up his player option with the Taipans for the 2018/19 season.

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.

Nathan Jawai (10.0 points, 5.2 rebounds, and 1.9 assists) saw his minutes and production nearly double compared to the previous season, providing a strong presence in the paint. His ability to score inside and defend the rim made him a key contributor for the Taipans.

Jawai’s best games this season included a 20-point, 8-rebound effort against Perth (14 Dec 2018), a 16-point, 7-rebound performance against Adelaide (2 Feb 2019), and a 14-point, 6-rebound game against Melbourne (22 Dec 2018).

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).

2019/20
On 4 August 2019, Jawai re-signed with Cairns for the 2019/20 NBL season and was named co-captain of the Taipans alongside DJ Newbill. Jawai averaged 7.9 points and 3.3 rebounds and played a key role in the Taipans finishing in third place during the regular season (16-12).

2020/21On 3 August 2020, Jawai re-signed again with the Taipans on a two-year deal. During the 2020/21 season Jawai recorded four 20-point games – the most since his rookie season in 2008.

Despite Jawai being able to ‘turn back the clock’ this season, Cairns struggled to generate wins under new head coach Adam Forde with a glut of player injuries seeing the team never field their full roster in any game that season.

Jawai finished with averages of 8.3 points and 3.8 rebounds as the Taipans finished in ninth place finish (8-28).

2021/22
Cairns underwent a rehaul prior to the 2021/22 season, the first move being Adam Forde replacing head coach Mike Kelly. Forde, who had spent the previous season coaching the Sydney Kings, was tasked with finding some new firepower for the Snakes after losing the team’s leading scorer Cam Oliver to the NBA the previous season.

Imports Tahjere McCall and Stephen Zimmerman were brought in, alongside Keanu Pinder (via Adelaide) and rookie Bul Kuol (Detroit Mercy) to bolster a Taipans core which already included Majok Deng, Kouat Noi, Nathan Jawai, Mirko Djeric, Jarrod Kenny and Scott Machado who was named team captain.

The Taipans struggled to generate wins all season thanks to a glut of player injuries which saw Cairns unable to field a full roster in any game that season. Despite the team’s struggles, Forde was instrumental in developing the Taipans younger talent, many whom delivered career best seasons.

Majok Deng (14.3 points, 4.9 rebounds, and 1 assists) had his best season to date, playing in every game for the Taipans and finishing second on the team in points per game and Keanu Pinder (10.9 points, 7.5 rebounds, and 1.1 assists), went on to be named the NBL’s Most Improved Player after doubling his points and rebounds from the previous season.

Another breakout season came from Ben Ayre (6.6 points, 1.8 rebounds, and 3.5 assists), who joined the team originally as an unpaid training player after being recommended to the team by former 36ers coach Joey Wright. Ayre was elevated into the full-time roster as an injury replacement in April, before going on to break NBL records in his eight-game tenure. On 18 April 2022, in just his sixth appearance for the Taipans, Ayre scored a team-high 20 points to go with 10 assists, four rebounds, three steals and four three-pointers in a loss to Melbourne (80-92). The 26-year-old became just the third player in 2021–22 to record 20 points and 10 assists in a game (alongside Bryce Cotton and Jaylen Adams) and just the second Taipan in club history to register 20 points and 10 assists. Lastly, first year player Bul Kuol (10.4 points, 2.6 rebounds, and 1.3 assists), who had been told he was not guaranteed to be part of the rotation or receive any minutes, also saw injuries thrust him into the line-up and quickly became one of the Taipans’ most important players. He would be rewarded at seasons end by being named Rookie of the Year.

Scott Machado (10.2 points, 3.1 rebounds, and 5.3 assists) sustained a heel injury in round two of NBL22, missing more than six weeks with the injury. In April 2022, he re-injured his heel and missed the rest of the season. Machado and Tahjere McCall (16.1 points, 5.7 rebounds, 5.5 assists, 2 steals), who led the team in scoring, and assists, were selected as co-MVP’s of the team as Cairns finished in second last place (9-19).

Jawai would average 5.9 points, 2.7 rebounds, and 0.8 assists across 19 games in what would be his last NBL season.

Congratulations to @Natejawai, who clocks his 200th career @NBL game tonight when the @CairnsTaipans take on the Kings ????

We wind it back to 2007/08 when the BIG guy burst onto the scene to claim Rookie of the Year, All-Star game MVP, and ALL NBL second-team honours ????#NBL22 pic.twitter.com/xY6bbnM3tU

— NBL History (@nblhistory) March 13, 2022

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Nathan Jawai played eight seasons in the NBL. He averaged 10 points, 4.7 rebounds, and 1.3 assists in 210 NBL games.

HIGHLIGHTS:

Nate Jawai was one of the most physical players the NBL has seen ????

Check out his mixtape ???? pic.twitter.com/tc7qEC7F73

— NBL (@NBL) June 19, 2024

Dan Boyce (811 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.