Brad Newley
Brad Newley is an Australian professional basketball player for the Sydney Kings of the National Basketball League. The 199 cm small forward-shooting guard was drafted 54th overall by the Houston Rockets in the 2007 NBA draft. He was a member of the Australian Under-19 junior national team that won the gold medal at the 2003 FIBA Under-19 World Championship in Greece, where he scored 16 points against Lithuania's Under-19 team in the final.
Early life
Newley was born in the Adelaide suburb of Lower Mitcham. He has one younger sister, Mia, who also plays basketball. Newley originally attended Colonel Light Gardens Primary School, in the nearby suburb of Colonel Light Gardens, before moving with his family to the North Territory and then Queensland. Settling down in Queensland, he attended Mountain Creek State High School on the Sunshine Coast, before moving back to Adelaide and attending Springbank Secondary College, where he played alongside future NBA player Joe Ingles.Newley played for the Forestville Eagles as a junior and moved to Canberra in 2003, to attend the Australian Institute of Sport and Lake Ginninderra Secondary College. He played for the AIS in the South East Australian Basketball League, averaging 17.1 points and 3.9 rebounds per game in 2003, and 24.7 points, 5.5 rebounds and 2.6 assists per game in 2004. To cap off a successful 2004 SEABL season, Newley earned All-Eastern Conference first team honors and won the East Men's Australian Under-23 Youth Player of the Year award.
Professional career
Townsville Crocodiles (2004–2007)
After graduating from the AIS in 2004, Newley signed with the Townsville Crocodiles of the National Basketball League. He had a great rookie season in 2004–05, as he won the league's All-Star game MVP, and earned Rookie of the Year and Best Sixth Man honors; he is the only player in NBL history to accomplish such a feat.During the 2005 off-season, Newley re-joined the Forestville Eagles of the Central ABL. In six games, he averaged 24.3 points, 9.8 rebounds and 4.0 assists per game.
After originally declaring for the 2006 NBA draft, Newley later withdrew his name and returned to the Crocodiles for the 2006–07 NBL season, where went on to earn All-NBL second team honors. He also participated in the 2006–07 All-Star game held on 25 November 2006, in Adelaide. Newley, alongside Larry Abney, led the Crocodiles to the NBL playoffs, but they were beaten in the quarter-finals by the Sydney Kings. In 102 games played over three seasons for the Crocodiles, Newley averaged 19.1 points, 4.5 rebounds and 3.1 assists per game.
In April 2007, Newley agreed to sign a two-year deal with the Adelaide 36ers, but he maintained his main goal of being drafted into the NBA.
Houston Rockets and Los Angeles Lakers NBA draft rights (2007–present)
On 28 June 2007, Newley was selected with the 54th overall pick in the 2007 NBA draft by the Houston Rockets. In July 2007, he joined the Rockets' summer league squad for the 2007 NBA Summer League, where he averaged 3.3 points, 3.0 rebounds and 1.0 assists per game, in three games. Following the 2008–09 season, Newley re-joined the Houston Rockets' summer league squad, for the 2009 NBA Summer League, where he averaged 6.8 points and 2.6 rebounds per game, in five games.In 2017, Newley's NBA draft rights were traded by the Houston Rockets to the Los Angeles Lakers.
Panionios and Panellinios (2007–2009)
In August 2007, Newley signed with Panionios for the 2007–08 Greek Basket League season. In just his fourth league game, he scored 32 points, on 12-of-12 shooting, in a win over AEK Athens. By making 8-of-8 three-pointers in the game, he set a new record in the Greek Basket League competition. He was later named to the 2008 Greek League All-Star game. In 26 regular season games in the Greek League, he averaged 10.8 points, 3.5 rebounds, 1.0 assists and 1.3 steals per game, before averaging 8.3 points, 2.6 rebounds, 1.1 assists and 0.9 steals in 12 playoff games.On 16 July 2008, Newley signed with Panellinios for the 2008–09 Greek Basket League season. In 26 regular season games in the Greek League, he averaged 11.0 points, 4.3 rebounds, 0.8 assists and 1.0 steals per game, before averaging 6.0 points and 5.5 rebounds in two playoff games.
Turkey and Lithuania (2009–2012)
On 21 July 2009, Newley signed with Beşiktaş, for the Turkish Basketball Super League 2009–10 season. On 28 May 2010, Newley signed a two-year deal with Lietuvos rytas, of the Lithuanian Basketball League.Spain (2012–2016)
In January 2012, Newley left Lietuvos rytas and signed with Spanish club Valencia, for the rest of the Liga ACB 2011–12 season.On 9 August 2012, Newley signed with Spanish club Gran Canaria for the 2012–13 ACB season. On 13 June 2013, he signed a one-year contract extension with Canaria. On 9 July 2014, he again signed a one-year contract extension with Canaria. With Gran Canaria, in the 2014–15 season, Newley averaged 10.3 points, 3.5 rebounds, 0.8 assists and 1.1 steals per game, in 32 games played in the Spanish League, and 12.0 points, 3.3 rebounds, 1.1 assists, and 1.0 steals per game in the European-wide 2nd-tier level league, the EuroCup, as his team made it to the EuroCup 2014–15 season's Finals.
On 19 June 2015, Newley signed another one-year contract extension with Canaria.
Sydney Kings and AEK Athens (2016–present)
On 8 June 2016, Newley signed a three-year deal with the Sydney Kings. He made his debut for the Kings in their season opener on 8 October 2016, scoring nine points in a 77–73 loss to the Brisbane Bullets. On 24 October 2016, he scored a team-high 20 points, on 8-of-15 shooting, in a 90–73 win over the Illawarra Hawks. Six days later, he scored a season-high 29 points, in an 87–78 win over Brisbane, helping the Kings start the season with a 5–1 record. On 17 November 2016, he set a new season high, with 34 points, in a 93–80 loss to the Perth Wildcats. On 9 January 2017, he was ruled out indefinitely, with a hamstring injury. He returned to action in early February, after missing four games. At the season's end, Newley was named to the All-NBL Second Team. The Kings finished the regular season in seventh place on the eight-team ladder, with a 13–15 record.On 13 February 2017, following the conclusion of the 2016–17 NBL season, Newley signed with Greek team AEK Athens, on loan.
On 29 March 2019, Newley re-signed with the Kings on a two-year deal.
National team career
Newley made his senior debut with the Australian national basketball team during the 2006 Commonwealth Games. This was a successful tournament, with the Boomers winning gold. Additionally, he was selected in the Boomers squad for the 2006 FIBA World Championship. In this tournament, despite limited game time, he averaged 8.2 points, 2.5 rebounds and 1.3 assists per game. Newley was also selected to play in the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics. He averaged 12.7 points per game, shooting at 57% from the field and 45% from three-point range during the Olympics.Newley later represented Australia at the 2010 FIBA World Championship, the 2012 London Summer Olympics, and the 2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup.