LESS than a week after being told he was heading for the NBA's development league to get game time under his belt, former Taipan Nathan Jawai has made his long-awaited NBA debut.

The 22-year-old Bamaga behemoth yesterday became the first indigenous Australian to play in the world’s top professional basketball league when he took the court for the Toronto Raptors in the dying minutes of their 95-76 loss to the Pistons in Detroit.

While his statline was little more than a blip on the radar – he registered a single turnover, no points and no rebounds in just over three minutes – his presence marked the end of a long and at times tumultuous journey.

It came almost a year after Jawai played his last full match in the Taipans’ NBL quarter-final loss to the New Zealand Breakers last February and about four months after his career stalled because of a heart scare.

While he was not courtside to see it happen, Jawai’s mentor, Aaron Fearne, who travelled to Canada last year to help guide the centre through his rookie season, was in the next best place.

Fearne watched the game in Pullman, Washington, with Ben Johnson, another great influence on Jawai in his early years in the game.

Now an assistant coach at Washington State University, Johnson and wife and former Kuiyam Pride player Nicky were alongside Fearne as Jawai realised his NBA dream.

"The big fella got three minutes in his first NBA game," a thrilled Fearne said after the match.

"You’d love to be there the first time when he gets to go out on the court but being here with these two is the next best thing."

Fearne joked he was "too tough" for tears when Jawai came on but there is no doubt he understands better than almost anyone the road the 22-year-old has had to travel.

"He gets fit, works really hard then gets an injury before the draft; then he got drafted and battled through the summer league with an injury," Fearne said.

"Then obviously the heart issue came up. When you think back, it’s almost a year since he’s played the game.

"He knows he’s got a long, long way to go to come back and the Raptors understand that but it’s got to start somewhere.

"He’s learned plenty … but there’s nothing like playing at that level with those athletes and that’s his next step."

Jawai’s opportunity came up partly because of Toronto’s lengthy injury list.

He also suited up for a game against Atlanta earlier this week but did not hit the court.

But while he has now had a taste at the top level, Jawai could still be sent back to the development league to get some substantial minutes under his belt with Raptors affiliate Idaho Stampede.

"They’re (Raptors) obviously going through a difficult patch right now and they’ve obviously had a lot of injuries and what they want to do with him now I don’t know," Fearne said.

"But what I do know is he needs to play. A lot of teams are using the D-league now."

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