BIO: Ray Turner was born in Houston, Texas, and grew up in the south-central area of South Park without a father and with a sick mother.

As a adolescent, Turner missed a lot of school and was often getting into trouble, but basketball provided a positive outlet.

He attended South Park BallCats, a basketball academy run by Turner’s guardian and father figure Keith Perry.

Turner played college basketball for Texas A&M University before playing professionally in Cyprus, Australia, Japan and Hungary.

NBL EXPERIENCE

Ray Turner made his NBL debut with the Sydney Kings at 29 years of age. He scored two points in his first game.

In 2017/18, Turner saw limited opportunities as an injury replacement player for Brisbane.

2018/19
Sydney entered the 2018-19 season with high expectations, primarily due to the addition of Andrew Bogut, who returned to Australia after 14 seasons in the NBA, where he won an NBA championship in 2015 with Golden State. The Kings also became the first team to participate in the NBL’s newly established Next Stars program, signing highly touted prospect Brian Bowen, a McDonald’s All-American aiming to develop his skills for the NBA Draft. Other key additions included Jerome Randle, David Wear (via Spain), Deng Deng (via Big V – McKinnon), Kyle Adnam (via Melbourne), and Tom Wilson (via Melbourne).

Midway through the season, the Kings added Ray Turner (1.7 points, 0.7 rebounds) from Bendigo in the state league to provide additional depth, particularly in covering for injuries to Bogut. Although Turner’s role was limited, his energy off the bench was crucial during key stretches. Turner appeared in 6 games for the Kings, offering size and hustle in short bursts of playing time. Despite limited minutes, Turner’s work ethic and attitude earned praise from the coaching staff.

The Kings finished the regular season in third place with an 18-10 record, securing a spot in the playoffs against Melbourne United.

In the playoffs, Sydney faced Melbourne United in the semifinals. In Game 1 (95-73), Turner played limited minutes without registering a significant impact. Casper Ware (22 points, 7 assists) and DJ Kennedy (20 points, 7 rebounds) led Melbourne to a comfortable win as Sydney struggled to keep up. Kevin Lisch (13 points) and Jerome Randle (13 points) led the scoring for the Kings, while Andrew Bogut (7 points, 7 rebounds, 3 blocks) was outplayed in the paint.

In Game 2 (90-76), Turner saw increased minutes off the bench, contributing 2 points and 1 rebound as the Kings fought to stay in the series. Despite strong efforts from Andrew Bogut (10 points, 12 rebounds, 5 assists) and Kevin Lisch (13 points, 4 rebounds, 4 assists), Melbourne’s Casper Ware (30 points, 5 rebounds) and Chris Goulding (23 points, 4 rebounds) dominated once again, leading United to the Grand Final.

Ray Turner played one season in the NBL. He averaged 4.5 points, 2.1 rebounds, and 0.2 assists in 10 NBL games.

Dan Boyce (835 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.