With all of the players who have lept from Australia to the NBA, we’ve seen them take the most common path of plying their trade in the NBL before reaching the best league in the world. Although this pathway is by far the best way to reach the NBA from Australia, “Snoopy Graham” is a true example of being the exception that proved the rule.
Paul Graham played for the Atlanta Hawks from 1991 to 1994 alongside NBA stars Dominique Wilkins, Stacey Augmon and Mookie Blaylock but the pathway he took to get there was one never seen before or since.
‘Snoopy’ Graham had played his college basketball at Ohio (1985-89) and averaged 19.7 points, 5.5 rebounds and 2.6 assists per game in 110 career games but failed to gather enough attention to be drafted by any team during the 1989 NBA draft.
So, Graham decided to look overseas for opportunities to play and very few crossed his path. One however was from a team based in a small town he’d never heard of in Australia called Kalgoorlie.
The first known team photo of the Goldfields Giants from their 1990 debut season (Paul Graham wearing #45).
The Goldfields Giants, based in Kalgoorlie, had just entered the Western Australian State League in 1990 and with this being their first season the opportunity to develop local players and with the inaugural squad lacking in local talent, the Giants’ initial coaching staff included Head Coach Randal Hulme and his assistant Ned Coten looked to add some big-name imports to the roster.
Graham accepted the Giant’s offer to play and fly to Kalgoorlie (population 30,000), playing in 10 games before he was offered an NBA try-out with the Hawks mid-season. Graham, who averaged 43.3 points, 5.9 rebounds, 3.7 assists, 2.7 steals and 1.7 blocks per game that season and made sure local fans would never forget his name before leaving.
Coming into Graham’s final game, the Willetton Tigers, led by former Perth Wildcat player Alan Black would face Graham and the Giants who were on a five-game losing streak and sitting in eleventh place.
In his final game for the Giants, he scored a league record-equalling 82 points in a 155–134 win over the Willetton Tigers. Graham connected on 34/51 shot attempts (67%), 11/11 free throws and remarkably just 3 made shots from behind the arc. The game made front-page news in the local newspaper.
To replace Graham, the Giants signed Mark Griffin to pair with fellow import Calvin Earl however, the team failed to make the playoffs in their first season, finishing the year in 12th place with a 7–19 record.
Graham went on to play in the NBA for the Atlanta Hawks averaging 8.4 points over three seasons before heading back overseas.
Upon his return to the United States, Graham joined the Albany Patroons of the Continental Basketball Association (which would go on to become the NBA G-League) for the 1990–91 season and shortly after was signed by the Atlanta Hawks. In 179 games for the Hawks, he averaged 8.4 points, 2.4 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 1.0 steals in 18.7 minutes per game.
Graham was the first and only player to jump from Australia’s state league’s to the NBA, skipping the NBL in the process, in a move never seen since and unlikely to ever be seen again.
After playing with the Hawks, Graham returned to play in the Continental Basketball Association before heading overseas to play out his career, making stops in Puerto Rico, France, Israel, France, Dominican Republic and Latvia before wrapping up his career with minor stints in the United States Basketball League and the Eastern Basketball Alliance.
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.
