Cadee’s hoops dreams did come true

As a six-year-old, Jason Cadee was already in the NBL.

He was the towel boy for the West Sydney Razorbacks, the team his dad, former Olympian Robbie Cadee, was CEO of and his dreams of making the big time started.

Fast forward 26 years and that six-year-old with stars in his eyes is about to run out for his 400^th NBL match.

“It’s really come around quite quickly,” Cadee said.

Cadee will become the 53^rd NBL player and the 16^th Adelaide 36er to reach the 400-game milestone. The 186cm point guard has averaged 9.0 points, 3.0 assists and 2.3 rebounds per game across 399 matches.

Now in his second stint at the 36ers, after also stops at Gold Coast Blaze, Sydney Kings and Brisbane Bullets, Cadee said the thrill of playing is burning as bright as ever.

“You get caught up in the season, and this year I’m excited about what we can do,” he said. 

READ MORE

• PRESS CALL: Lessons to be learnt from United defeat
• MATCH WRAP: 36ers go down to United in Melbourne
• MATCH PREVIEW: DJ says new focus awaits
• TEAM SCOUT: United test awaits

THE ACCIDENT
In July 2010, Cadee’s life flashed before his eyes even before his professional basketball career had begun.

The then 19-year-old was involved in car accident on the M7 motorway in Sydney while he was driving home from training, when a semi-trailer veered out of its lane and pushed him off the road.

Cadee’s car went into a spin and parked itself at right angles across one of Sydney’s busiest highways.

He was crushed against the middle console of the car, leaving him trapped for 90 minutes, and fearing his time on earth was finished.

“There was doubt, I remember sitting in the car thinking ‘am I going to play basketball again’,” Cadee said.

“Even through the whole recovery, being young and naïve, I was always asking ‘am I going to play basketball again’, when really the question should have been ‘am I ever going to walk again’.

“But once I got told I’d make a full recovery, I had one goal and it wasn’t without challenges.”

Cadee said after his NBL debut, on December 17, 2010 for the Blaze against Townsville Crocodiles on the Gold Coast, he could barely walk after the game.

Since then, Cadee has been an NBL ironman, only missing six games in a career going into its 15^th season.

“I think I’ve done a pretty good job seeing I started my career with a broken pelvis,” he said.

THE MILESTONE
Cadee is the ultimate team man, and when the 400-game milestone was looming this season, he wanted it to pass without much fanfare.

“It hasn’t been until I’ve been talking to some people about it, Sunday (Dech) was one that said to not undersell it,” Cadee said.

“I’ve made a career out of it being about everyone else and not myself.

“I’d rather it be about everyone else, except me.

“I have always been true to myself, it’s never been about myself, it’s about what the group needs.

“It’s who I am, I’m wired that way, I care about the teammates and the clubs I’ve played for, that’s no different if I’m playing game 400 or game one.”

The 2018 Commonwealth Games gold medalist said basketball and the NBL had always been the goal.

“Playing for the Boomers is one of the great experiences to have as a basketball player,” Cadee said.

“As a kid all I wanted to do was play in the NBL, my dad was the CEO of the Razorbacks, I’ve been heavily involved or around it since I was six  years old.

“Did I think I would be about to play game 400 and be in my 15^th year, probably not.

“When I think about all those things I thought of as a kid, it’s pretty cool.

“Some of the friendships I have made and some of the relationships you make have been great and lifelong. I was walking to Anthony Petrie, who I played with at the 36ers, his second eldest daughter was four when I started playing, now she is going to turn 18."

THE FAMILY
Cadee comes from a rich and talented basketball family, with both his parents playing for the Australian national team.

His father Robbie played 100 NBL games for St Kilda Saints and Bankstown Bruins and was also part of the Boomers’ team to feature at the 1976 Montreal Olympics, while his mother Debbie was a member of the Australian Opals team at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics.

“He (Robbie) does remind me quite a lot that he won the first NBL title, and I haven’t won one yet,” Cadee said.

“I’m very fortunate to have Mum and Dad, when you can pick up the phone and ring and I’ve learnt this as I’ve got older, one of the coaches who knows so much about basketball, of all the people I know, they are some of the best.

“Sometimes I forget to separate that he is Dad as well as someone I talk basketball to, Mum as well, and it’s something I’ve used throughout my career.”

Now a father himself, Cadee and partner Jasmine Hooper have three children, Louis, Scarlett and Jude, but hoops still run deep in the family.

“It’s a natural thing for us, Jasmine always says when we go out to dinners (with the family) all we talk about is basketball, but that has kind of been our life,” Cadee said.

“If I can get an NBL title so Dad can stop talking about that, that would be nice.”

THE LEADER
Cadee is a born leader and has had several roles within clubs he has been apart of across his basketball journey.

Now, it’s his friendship with Adelaide 36ers captain DJ Vasiljevic which has sparked a new mentor role.

“Me and DJ have a really good relationship, we are roomies on the road,” he said.

“Seeing him develop as a leader and seeing it grow and I can tell he looks at me sometimes and is asking ‘am I on the right path?’, for me that is one thing I love.

“Being around someone who cares and he is trying now to move onto that place of his life where he is trying to be a leader.

“There is times where I need to speak and there are times where I just have to sit and watch and let other people figure it out.”

Cadee said his experience in the league has shown a number of different roles can come within a club, and he believes Vasiljevic has what it takes as the 36ers skipper.

“When you have been around a while, you figure when is the time to inject yourself and times where it can play itself out and we will be all the better for it,” Cadee said.

“We speak a lot, he (Vasiljevic) is a guy that is always thinking and want to learn different things, so it’s just natural conversations that we have.

“I know the conversations as I know what he is trying to do.”

THE SEASON
The 2017 FIBA Asia Cup winner said he has high hopes for what the 36ers can achieve in NBL25, but knows the journey has only just started.

“You never want to get too far ahead of yourself, and I’ve been around long enough, and I know when there is something sitting there that can become something really good,” Cadee said.

“But I fully understand how much work we still have to do.”

Adelaide sit at a 3-3 record going into Sunday afternoon’s home clash against Tasmania JackJumpers and Cadee said for the 36ers to win three of the past four matches, is a nice starting spot for the challenges ahead.

“I think we have shown at 3-3 with our schedule, we are in a good place right now,” he said.

The 36ers now face the next two games at home and only play four games in the next month.

“We have got a long way to go, a long way to go, but the people we have around, the talent, the different ways we can play, I’d be lying to say I don’t go home and speak to people about how excited I am,” he said.

THE FUTURE
Cadee is in the final season of his two-year deal with the 36ers, but has said he feels revitalised under head coach Mike Wells and believes he has a lot more to give on the court.

“I feel good, I’m only 33, the body feels good, and I really have enjoyed playing for Mike (Wells),” he said.

“It’s been refreshing to have someone like him (Wells) around, his experience in basketball is second to none and his understanding, it’s a place I’ve really enjoyed.

“I’m open to anything, I’m really enjoying playing basketball right now and have a stock standard role of coming off the bench and plugging holes.”

A role within a roster was something Cadee had been craving, and now he thinks he has found his niche within the Adelaide system.

“There was a game two games ago where Mike said ‘I got to get you in more’, and I said ‘no, starters are doing their job, let them go’,” he said.

“So, we have a great relationship, and whatever will be, will be.”

JASON CADEE FACT FILE
NBL Games: 399
(Brisbane 147, Sydney 112, Adelaide 93, Gold Coast 47)
Points: 3579
Assists: 1211
Rebounds: 751
Steals: 267
Blocks: 24

Career Highs
Points: 32 vs Townsville Crocodiles - February 13, 2016
Assists: 11 vs NZ Breakers - March 24, 2022
Rebounds: 8 vs Perth Wildcats - December 1, 2022
Steals: 4 vs NZ Breakers - March 7, 2022
Blocks: 2 vs NZ Breakers - October 12, 2012 

Adelaide 36ers players to play 400 games
Mark Bradtke (554), Lanard Copeland (532), Brett Maher (524), Oscar Forman (511), Paul Rees (508), Peter Crawford (487), Mark Davis (481), John Rillie (481), Robert Rose (477), Adam Gibson (460), David Stiff (453), Martin Cattalini (452), Brett Wheeler (448), Mike McKay (448), Daniel Johnson (417), Jacob Holmes (407).