Basketball On The Internet.

BRAD Newley has just closed the door on one of the great careers in Australian basketball and Brad Rosen and I seized the chance to chat with him at our Brad&Boti podcast before he took his family back to Spain's Gran Canaria for an emotional revisit. 

Both of us long have been big fans of "Newls". I've had the pleasure of knowing him and chronicling much of his illustrious career since his mother Janelle and father Arthur first introduced him to me at Wayville Stadium when he was about 15.

As a past Sydney Kings captain, Mr Rosen of course loves anyone who has worn the club's purple-and-gold, as Brad did with distinction for five years before closing his NBL stint with Melbourne United.

At 39, it finally was time to hang up the boots at the elite level where he logged 327 NBL games around a decade of international stints across Europe.

A Gold Medallist with Australia's team at the 2003 FIBA World U19 Championship, a winner of Commonwealth Games Gold Medals in 2006 and 2018, Newley also represented the Boomers at Olympic Games in Beijing and London, and FIBA World Cups in 2006, 2010 and 2014. Unlucky to miss the Rio Olympic team, he was back in the Boomers outfit which won the 2017 FIBA Asia Cup in Lebanon.

What does "life after basketball" mean for the 198cm wing, whose slashing ability to get to the hoop and deadly 3-point shot made him a defender's nightmare and saw him claim the NBL Rookie of the Year and Best Sixth Man awards in his NBL debut with Townsville Crocodiles in 2004-05?

(He also collected the MVP award at the annual All Star Game in 2004-05.) But how did he prepare for "retirement" and that huge transition from sporting stardom to somone's dad dropping the kids at school? 

And where did David Stiff fit into all of this? Or, for that matter, Manu Ginobili?

There's all this and more from the always candid Newls at this link, or you can also find the podcast through Apple and Spotify. In the meantime, enjoy how well Brad was welcomed back at Gran Canaria as one of the Spanish club's most beloved imports.

PSST: Brad Newley also was the first player podcast interview Brad Rosen and I did three years ago. If you want more of the Newls, hit this link for that in-depth interview.