Kay thrives in familiar surrounds

Nick Kay became a Dad recently. His son, Logan, was born four weeks ago, right as the Boomers were starting their camp up in Cairns. Kay joined them a few days later, as soon as he was able to, but has been mostly apart from his wife Emily and newborn son ever since.

So Kay, the former Perth Wildcat and two-time NBL Champion, would have every excuse to feel a little homesick right now, being in Okinawa, Japan for the World Cup. But that’s not entirely the case. In fact, he may feel more at home here than any of his teammates.

You see, Kay has spent the last two seasons playing in the B.League here in Japan for the Shimane Susanoo Magic, as an import. He has a fair bit of familiarity by now in how things work in Japan and his teammates have certainly leveraged that knowledge. The Japanese fans also have some familiarity with him and that’s been noticed.

“A little bit,” Kay told NBL Media after team practice on Thursday. 

“Obviously, haven’t spent a whole lot of time in Okinawa, but it’s good to get around the Japanese fans. They’re showing a lot of support to us all and that’s great. So, they’ve been really supportive and hopefully we can keep putting on some good performances for them.”

In fact, there seems to be such an appreciation for Kay in Japan, that when the Boomers played France in a warm-up game in Tokyo last weekend, there were small cut-outs with Nick Kay’s photo on them spotted in the crowd, presumably with Shimane fans. 

“Yeah, they were cool,” Kay acknowledged. 

“I mean they really get behind all that kind of thing and to see them come out and support us playing here was really good, and obviously they’re getting behind the Aussie guys as well. So, Japan fans are really big basketball people and it’s great that they’re getting behind all the teams here.”

But is Kay getting behind his teammates and using his local knowledge to help make them more comfortable? When asked how good his Japanese was, he was pretty honest.

“Not as good as it should be,” he chuckled. 

“I am trying. A few good recommendations here and there with some coffee and stuff, so we are enjoying it here.”

Kay has certainly enjoyed his two seasons in Japan. He’s averaged 14.9 points, 7.8 rebounds, 1.1 steals and made 1.5 threes per game at a 42.3 per cent clip, while also hitting 54.2 per cent overall from the field. 

Playing a different style to what he was used to in the NBL, facing different coverages, having the expectations of being an import, it’s all been an adjustment, but has certainly helped Kay develop his game.

“Yeah, just a little bit different,” he said of playing in Japan. 

“Obviously, when you get put outside your comfort zone, with some of the language challenges and other stuff, it helps you grow in different ways, and we’re coming up against really tough imports every night over here. 

“Being an import, there’s extra pressure and that stuff’s really helped me develop individually.”

After what Kay has shown in the last two major campaigns at China in 2019 and Tokyo in 2021, he was always likely to play a bigger role at this tournament. And when you looked at the likely front-court depth that was going to feature on the roster, that became almost an inevitability.

However, the last-minute loss of Jock Landale magnified the role Kay would need to play. His minutes as a backup five man would need to increase and his time on the floor as one of the primary frontcourt defenders became increasingly important. But that didn’t change the way he's approaching his role here in Okinawa.

“Obviously losing Jock last minute was a tough one for us, but we’ve got such good depth with this group,” Kay noted. 

“I guess probably one of the bigger focuses individually is the matchups. We’ve got a couple of tough matchups to start off and we’ve got to put a big focus into that. But, we’re such a good defensive team and when we help each other out and cover for each other, we’re going to be the best we can. 

“So, that’s what it’s about – helping each other to be the best we can collectively and whatever that takes to get a win.”

One of those tough matchups Kay mentioned was Lauri Markkanen from Finland. Kay started on Markkanen and then shared the load with Jack White, Xavier Cooks and at times, Josh Green and Matisse Thybulle.

Markannen finished with 19 points on 7-17 shooting and eight rebounds, so was contained effectively for much of the game. Kay finished with four points and two assists, but his focus was on his defensive and helping to set up his teammates for easier shots.

Playing against someone of Markkanen’s calibre is certainly a good test and Kay enjoyed that challenge.

“I mean he’s a hell of a player, isn’t he?,” Kay acknowledged. 

“We threw a lot of different bodies at him and as I said, the depth of our team and being able to throw multiple bodies at guys like that is a huge advantage of the Aussie group.”

And Kay loves that he is part of a mob mentality on the defensive side of the floor. Knowing that he has teammates who are ready and capable of helping him share the load, and able to have an impact when he is on the bench, gives him a lot of confidence in where this team is headed. 

“Absolutely,” admitted Kay. 

“I think that’s one of the great things about the group, is how selfless we are. Whoever’s on the bench is cheering on and doing all the little stuff, so they are ready for that opportunity to come in and that’s what we saw last night. 

“Finland’s a big team themselves, so it was great preparation for Germany coming into tomorrow night and we’re going to need everyone to step up if we’re going to have a chance to go out there and play for  40 minutes, because it’s going to need a 40-minute effort to win.”

Speaking of effort, that is something that Boomer Nick Kay has become renowned for since he debuted at the 2017 Asia Cup and then made the final roster for the 2019 World Cup. 

In fact, Kay is routinely labelled as someone who personifies what it means to be a Boomer. His selfless, team-first attitude, willingness to do the dirty work and just make the right plays has earned him the respect of fans, the media, his coaches and his teammates. 

Kay is pretty humble when he hears those labels.

“I try and just do the stuff that I’ve learned from the leaders of the group,” he explained. 

“The guys like Joey, Patty, Delly, Baynesy, all these guys that I was around who showed me what it’s like to be Boomer. Now I’m trying to show those things for the younger guys coming through. 

“So, that’s part of my role on the team and there’s going to be guys that adopt that and then carry it on from where I am as well.”

Tonight’s game versus Germany has long been earmarked as the best game in Okinawa in the first round of the tournament, across both Groups E and F. The winner will have an advantage in terms of the cumulative standings going into and then coming out of, the second round.

So, the importance of that game is known by all, including Kay and everyone in the Boomers’ camp. However, that doesn’t mean they’re approaching it any differently.

“I feel like all these games are tough ones,” Kay said. 

“There’s no easy games right now. Like, you look at Japan who lost last night, but they hit a few more threes and suddenly that’s a game itself. So, we’re going into every game with the expectation to win, but with the attitude that we’ve got to play our best basketball to get that. 

“And when you want to be a gold medal team, that’s the attitude you need to have.”

Despite that clear goal and his familiarity with playing in Japan, Kay is still apart from his newborn son and his wife Emily. And he will be for a few more weeks if the Boomers can achieve that goal. 

Little Logan was decked out in infant-sized Boomers gear for the opening game on Friday and Kay shared a photo of that via social media, but it’s not easy to be missing this precious family time.

“It’s obviously got its challenges and its rewards,” Kay acknowledged. 

“You’ve got to go out there and make your family proud and I try to look at it like I want to do the best I can to show him that he can do whatever he can, but at the same time, you do your FaceTimes afterwards and you wish you were there with them as well. 

“So, it’s great but it is also tough.” 

Tonight’s game is also going to be tough, but Kay is on familiar ground and will take the court with that same mentality he always has. 

Be a Boomer and all that that represents, and leave it all on the floor.

Australia faces Germany in their second game in Group E tonight at 6:30pm AEST.