Basketball ACT coach backs NBA rookie son Mojave King to shine

The 21-year-old was drafted as the 47th overall pick by the Los Angeles Lakers then traded to Indiana, and is now readying for his first taste of the NBA.

"When he got drafted, it was just great to see all of the hard work he'd put in over the years pay off," King senior, now working at Basketball ACT as a high performance manager, told The Canberra Times.

"There were 16 teams that held workouts with him before the draft, so the interest level was high.

"Once he finds his feet and gets into a position to showcase the talent he has, I have no doubt he'll be very successful in the NBA."

King grew up around basketball courts, with his father working as a coach in New Zealand, Mackay, and Brisbane.

The Dunedin-born shooting guard was a youth talent in Queensland, but a move to the NBA Global Academy in Canberra in 2018 helped turbo-charge his development.

"The academy was a godsend," King senior said.

"The real investment in Mojave as a player gave him so much belief, and that's when we saw him go to another level."

In 2020 and 2021, King played with the Cairns Taipans and Adelaide 36ers in the NBL as part of the Next Stars program which gives NBA prospects a chance to play professionally before the draft.

Then after a stint with development basketball team NBA G-League Ignite in 2022, King was drafted to the biggest basketball competition in the world this year.

In Canberra King senior speaks regularly to his son, and is trying to show his support from afar, especially as the rookie deals with an unfortunate injury setback.

"He's disappointed he's not starting the year as he'd hoped, but he knows it's about getting right so he can get back on the court, and mentally he's doing well," King said.

"He's got an injury to his right foot and the timeline is six to eight weeks and they said he'll start off in their G-League team with the plan to hopefully get up to the NBA team once he fully recovers."

While his son begins his NBA journey, King is discovering and developing the next generation of basketball talent from Canberra.

Patty Mills and Lauren Jackson are two of the biggest names to have made their way to basketball stardom via the capital, and Sydney Kings' Next Stars recruit Alex Toohey is the latest up-and-comer from the ACT on an NBA trajectory.

"There's a lot more Alex Tooheys out here in the Canberra region," he said.

"There really is a lot of untapped potential here, and I just hope to be able to influence and help some of these kids and believe in them the way so many people have believed in my son, as he went along his journey."

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