Jawai faces new journey
NATHAN Jawai may have scaled a personal Everest with his selection to play on the world's biggest basketball stage but he knows the work has only just begun.
The former Cairns Taipan, who was selected at No. 41 in the US National Basketball Association draft by the Indiana Pacers then later traded to the Toronto Raptors, arrived back in the Far North at the weekend for a short break ahead of pre-season training.
Jawai, who will visit friends and family in Cairns and Bamaga during his stay, said his selection was still a little surreal but he was approaching it simply as a change of direction in his life.
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"I still can't believe I've come back here and I'm coming back into Cairns to see the old boys," he said while watching the Taipans train at the Fishtank yesterday.
"I'm still the same.
"(But) I'm going in a different direction now. Different direction - same person."
Jawai signed a two-year deal with the Raptors last month after he was traded by Indiana.
And while he is excited at the opportunities ahead, he knows there is plenty of work ahead if he is to make his mark in the toughest professional league in the world.
"I've got to start over again. In the NBA it's a totally different league," he said.
"It's going to be a great experience for me.
"It's going to make me or see where I'm at but I'm looking forward to it."
It may be a new journey but there's no way Jawai will forget where he began.
"I'm representing Bamaga, Australia, Cairns, the Cairns Taipans," he said.
"I'm not going to say it's the same, it's a bit more of a step from where it was but I'm still the same, I'm not going to change.
"Cairns and Bamaga has been a massive support for me and going overseas and trying to make my people proud back here, people in Cairns and Taipans supporters, that's something I want to do.
"I've got to make them proud by sticking it out and always coming back to Cairns and Bamaga and giving back to the community for the younger kids and people that look up to you."
More Jawai in Sport, Page 46
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Feeling good: Nathan Jawai soaks up the Far Northern sun during his brief holiday here before a return to Canada and the US for the NBA pre-season.
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