Nathan Leon Jawai (born 10 October 1986) is an Australian former professionalbasketball player. Jawai first played for theCairns Marlins in theQueensland Basketball League in 2004, before heading to Canberra the following year to attend theAustralian Institute of Sport. He went on to play for theCairns Taipans in theNational Basketball League before being drafted by theIndiana Pacers in the2008 NBA draft. Two years later he joinedPartizan Belgrade in Serbia, then Barcelona and Turkey, before heading back home to Australia and winning anNBL championship with thePerth Wildcats in 2016. Standing at 209 cm, he played at thepower forward andcentre positions.
Jawai played for theAustralian Boomers at the2014 FIBA World Cup.
Born at the Royal Hospital for Women in theSydney suburb ofPaddington on 10 October 1986, Jawai lived in Sydney for a year before his parents, Lynette and Ron, moved back toBamaga, a small town of about 1000 people, located north of the Jardine River and only 40 km from the tip ofCape York Peninsula.[1] He is anIndigenous Australian ofTorres Strait Islander descent.[2] He is the cousin ofNBA basketball playerPatty Mills,[3]rugby leagueNRL playersEdrick Lee[4] andBrenko Lee. Jawai's uncle is former Olympian basketballerDanny Morseu, the second Indigenous Australian to represent Australia at the Olympics in basketball.[5] Jawai's great uncle is Indigenousland rights activistEddie Mabo.[6]
Like most children on Cape York, he playedrugby league throughout primary school and early high school.[7] However, living in a remote indigenous community meant Jawai was subject to a lot of bad influences and was often getting in trouble due to the stain of drug and alcohol abuse.[8][9] Strong parental guidance and the decision to send Jawai to high school atSt Augustine's College inCairns ensured he stayed away from bad influences. At the age of 15, Jawai began playing basketball, and it only took him two years until he began playing competitively for theCairns Marlins of theQueensland Basketball League in 2004.[10] He then spent two years at theAustralian Institute of Sport inCanberra[11] before venturing to the United States in 2006 to play college basketball forMidland College. However, after just one season with Midland, Jawai returned to Australia and had surgery to remove the meniscus in his right knee.[12] With his move back home, he had hopes of joining anNBL club.[13] He subsequently re-joined the Cairns Marlins and helped guide them to anational title in2007 while earningACC All-Star Five honours.[14]
Jawai joined theCairns Taipans for the2007–08 NBL season.[13][15] In 31 games for the Taipans, Jawai averaged 17.3 points, 9.4 rebounds and 1.9 assists per game. His season highs for points and rebounds was 28 and 18 respectively.[16]
Jawai was drafted 41st overall in the2008 NBA draft by theIndiana Pacers; however, his rights were traded to theToronto Raptors in a deal that also broughtJermaine O'Neal to Toronto in exchange forT. J. Ford,Rasho Nesterović,Maceo Baston, and the draft rights toRoy Hibbert.[17][18] On 11 July 2008, he signed a two-year deal with the Raptors,[17] and the nicknames soon rolled in with "Aussie Shaq", "Outback Shaq" and "Baby Shaq", due to his resemblance toShaquille O'Neal.[19][20] He was also nicknamed "Big Nate" by Toronto commentators.[21]
On 17 December 2008, Jawai was cleared to resume training after enduring a worrisome period in which he was not allowed to undergo physical activity. Jawai was required to 'rest', due to a routine pre-season test which revealed a cardiac abnormality.[22] On 21 January 2009, Jawai made his NBA debut against theDetroit Pistons atThe Palace of Auburn Hills,[23] becoming the first indigenous Australian to play in the NBA.[24]
On 26 February 2009, Jawai was assigned by the Raptors to theIdaho Stampede of theNBA Development League.[25] In his first start (his second game), he registered 12 points, 5 rebounds and a team-high 3 blocks in Idaho's 104–96 win over theUtah Flash.[26] Jawai was recalled from the D-League on 23 March 2009.[27]
On 9 July 2009, Jawai was traded to theDallas Mavericks as a part of the four-team trade that also involved theOrlando Magic andMemphis Grizzlies.[28] Later that year, on 20 October 2009, Jawai was traded to theMinnesota Timberwolves in exchange for a conditional second-round pick in the2012 NBA draft.[29]
On 8 November 2009, Jawai played arguably the best game of his NBA career, scoring a team-high 16 points and grabbing six rebounds in a game against the Portland Trail Blazers.[30]
On 19 February 2010, Jawai was sent to theSioux Falls Skyforce of the NBA D-League for a short stint.[31] He was recalled on 21 February 2010,[32] and sent back on 31 March 2010.[33]
On 18 August 2010, Jawai signed a one-year deal with the Serbian teamPartizan Belgrade.[34]
In June 2011, Jawai signed a deal with the Russian teamUNICS Kazan.[35] Following the conclusion of Kazan's season, Jawai returned to Cairns and joined the Marlins for a two-game stint.[36][37]
In July 2012, Jawai signed withBarcelona Regal of theLiga ACB for the 2012–13 season.[38][39]
In July 2013, Jawai signed with the Turkish teamGalatasaray Liv Hospital.[40] In October 2013, he sustained a traumatic neck injury while playing for Galatasaray. He had long-lasting effects because of the incident and temporarily couldn't see from one eye.[41] He subsequently managed just four total games for Galatasaray in 2013–14. Despite the circumstances, Jawai re-signed with the club in September 2014.[42] In December 2014, he left Galatasaray and signed withMoraBanc Andorra for the rest of the season.[43]
On 28 August 2015, Jawai signed with thePerth Wildcats for the2015–16 NBL season.[44] On 10 October 2015, Jawai made his debut for the Wildcats in the team's season opener, where he recorded 11 points and six rebounds in 21 minutes in a 79–66 win over theAdelaide 36ers.[45] On 22 November 2015, he scored a season-high 20 points in a 91–90 win over his former team, theCairns Taipans.[46] On 21 January 2016, he had his best game in two months, scoring 18 points in a 95–72 win over theIllawarra Hawks.[47] The Wildcats finished the regular season in second place with an 18–10 record and reached the NBL Grand Final series, where they defeated theNew Zealand Breakers 2–1.[48] Jawai appeared in 32 of the team's 34 games in 2015–16, averaging 10.3 points, 4.1 rebounds and 1.8 assists per game.
On 3 June 2016, Jawai signed a three-year deal with theCairns Taipans, returning to the club he began his career with in 2007. A major factor in his return to Cairns was his long-time mentor and Taipans head coachAaron Fearne.[49][50] On 3 August 2016, he was ruled out for the entire NBL pre-season following finger surgery.[51] On 5 February 2017, he scored a season-high 22 points in an 85–77 win over thePerth Wildcats.[52]
On 10 October 2017, Jawai was ruled out for 12 weeks after suffering a partial tear of a ligament in his left foot in the Taipans' 2017–18 season opener four days earlier.[53]
On 3 April 2018, Jawai took up his player option with the Taipans for the 2018–19 season.[54]
On 17 February 2019, Jawai signed with French teamLevallois Metropolitans for the rest of the2018–19 Pro A season.[55] In 14 games, he averaged 5.8 points and 2.3 rebounds per game.[56]
On 4 August 2019, Jawai re-signed with the Taipans for the2019–20 NBL season.[57]
On 3 August 2020, Jawai re-signed again with the Taipans on a two-year deal.[58]
On 9 June 2021, Jawai joined theCairns Marlins of theNBL1 North, marking his fourth stint with the team.[59]
Jawai missed most of February of the2021–22 NBL season after suffering a partial Grade 2 tear of his rightadductor.[60] He parted ways with the Taipans following the season.[61]
In May 2022, Jawai joined theDarwin Salties for their inaugural season in the NBL1 North.[62]
In February 2023, Jawai re-signed with the Salties for the2023 NBL1 North season.[63]
In March 2024, Jawai re-signed with the Salties for the2024 NBL1 North season.[64]
In June 2025, Jawai was named in an Indigenous Basketball Australia All-Stars team for an exhibition match against Maori Basketball New Zealand.[65] It marked his final competitive basketball game.[66][67]
| GP | Games played | GS | Games started | MPG | Minutes per game |
| FG% | Field-goal percentage | 3P% | 3-point field-goal percentage | FT% | Free-throw percentage |
| RPG | Rebounds per game | APG | Assists per game | SPG | Steals per game |
| BPG | Blocks per game | PPG | Points per game | PIR | Performance index rating |
| Bold | Career high |
| Year | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2008–09 | Toronto | 6 | 0 | 3.2 | .250 | .000 | .000 | .3 | .0 | .0 | .0 | .3 |
| 2009–10 | Minnesota | 39 | 2 | 10.6 | .441 | .000 | .684 | 2.7 | .6 | .3 | .2 | 3.2 |
| Career | 45 | 2 | 9.6 | .435 | .000 | .684 | 2.4 | .5 | .2 | .2 | 2.8 | |
| Year | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG | PIR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010–11 | Partizan | 16 | 7 | 22.9 | .459 | .000 | .786 | 5.0 | .9 | .6 | .7 | 9.1 | 10.7 |
| 2011–12 | UNICS | 15 | 10 | 14.1 | .547 | .000 | .643 | 4.3 | .3 | .3 | .5 | 7.3 | 5.7 |
| 2012–13 | Barcelona | 30 | 6 | 15.5 | .697 | .000 | .710 | 4.7 | .4 | .3 | .8 | 7.1 | 9.1 |
| 2013–14 | Galatasaray | 2 | 0 | 14.7 | .875 | .000 | .727 | 2.5 | .5 | .5 | .5 | 11.0 | 14.0 |
| Career | 63 | 23 | 17.0 | .582 | .000 | .790 | 4.6 | .5 | .4 | .7 | 7.8 | 8.9 | |
Jawai debuted for Australia at the2005 FIBA Under-21 World Championship.[68] He represented theAustralian Boomers at the2009 FIBA Oceania Championship,2014 FIBA World Cup, and2015 FIBA Oceania Championship.[68]
In November 2018, Jawai was called up to the Boomers squad for the team's next window of2019 FIBA World Cup qualifiers.[69][70]
Jawai is the nephew ofDanny Morseu, the first Indigenous Australian to play basketball for Australia.[7] Jawai has two daughters.[8]
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