Xavier Cooks is in his third season with the Sydney Kings but due to injuries has played only 26 games over his NBL career, averaging 9 points, 8 rebounds and 2 assists per game since entering the league in 2019.
This season, with a full bill of health, Cooks is having a career-best season, averaging 13 points, 9 rebounds and 3 assists while leading Sydney to a top-five record thus far.
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He joins Aussie Hoopla’s Dan Boyce to talk about the team’s big win over the Perth Wildcats this week, his decision to play college basketball and overseas by debuting in the NBL, his experiences with the Australian Boomers and plenty more.
He also takes us through the ups and downs he faced dealing with his injuries which kept him out of the Australian Boomers in 2019 and has impacted his ability to play at his best in the NBL.
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Podcast topics include;
- The Kings win over the Wildcats and the altercation between Matt Hodgson and Dejan Vasiljevic (2:00)
- How injuries have impacted his past seasons and how being fully healthy has led him to his best NBL season so far (4:00)
- Thoughts on being an under the radar talent until making the Australian Boomers squad in 2019 (5:30)
- His decision to play college basketball and why Winthorp University was the best choice for him (6:30)
- NBA opportunities with the Golden State Warriors and Phoenix Suns (9:00)
- Playing overseas in Germany and France instead of the NBL for his first professional season (10:30)
- Making the Australian Boomers World Cup squad in 2019 but missing out due to injury and how it impacted him (14:00)
- Learning from coaches Will Weaver, Adam Forde and Chase Buford (19:00)
- His views on the Kings decision to forfeit the remaining games of the 2020 NBL Finals due to COVID (20:00)
- Being a part of the Boomers squad who defeated the USA in the Olympic warm-up games (22:00)
- The highlights and hurdles from Xaviers career so far (24:00)
All of this and a whole lot more…
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.
