The Cairns Taipans have retained Nathan Jawai on a two-year deal. The agreement will see Jawai committed to his hometown team for at least seven years of his career that began as a Cairns Basketball junior recruited from Bamaga.<\/p>\n
Jawai remains one of the most successful products of Far North Queensland and continues to be a dominant force in the NBL as one of Australia\u2019s most experienced and credentialed big men. In 2019-20 Jawai suited up for every game to average 8.0 points and 3.4 rebounds, while leading the team as a player-voted co-captain.<\/p>\n
Taipans Head Coach Mike Kelly acknowledged the special loyalty between Cairns and Jawai and said that it had been rewarding to see his development over the last few years.<\/p>\n
\u201cI love that Nate has continued to grow in all aspects of his game, and particularly in the way that he approaches his role.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s got the ability to influence a game on the floor as well as off it, and his positive influence on the team has been really important,\u201d said Kelly.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe want to continue to build with him and he\u2019s really bought into this group which has been fun to watch. He\u2019s committed to this club and I\u2019m excited to see him have another great season in orange.\u201d<\/p>\n
In December, Jawai will suit up for his fifth consecutive season for the Taipans \u2013 after originally signing for three years in 2016 and then a one-year contract in 2019.<\/p>\n
The two-year deal will keep the Queensland State Government ambassador at home potentially for the remainder of his playing career, and Jawai said that it was his ambitions for the club and for his future that were the main factors in re-signing.<\/p>\n
\u201cLast year was obviously really fun and really enjoyable to be part of. We have a really unique group, the chemistry was undeniable and playing under Coach Kelly just continues to get better,\u201d said Jawai.<\/p>\n
\u201cI want to win a Championship for Cairns and we know last season we weren\u2019t too far off. Now we are all just really, really motivated.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI owe a lot to this community and to basketball, and that is something I\u2019ve been reflecting about a lot during this extended off-season.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe club and I have been working on something behind-the-scenes that I cannot wait to reveal, and I\u2019m really looking forward to what the future holds.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The big man signs for two seasons<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":145,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[389,391],"tags":[],"rumors":[407],"typology":[185],"posizionamento":[],"class_list":["post-163908","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-australia","category-new-zeland","rumors-basket-rumors","typology-official"],"yoast_head":"\n