Mading Kuany has continued to grow and make strides while playing for NBA Global Academy in Australia. Mading had a strong showing for Australia at the 2024 FIBA U17 Basketball World Cup last June and his momentum carried over to the Basketball Without Borders Global Camp in Oakland, California, where he showcased his physical tools and defensive prowess.
In this interview, Pro Insight sat down with Mading to discuss his background, watching film, his experience at All-Star Weekend in the Bay, and much more.
For the next installment of the Pro Insight Q&A series we present 2007-born prospect Mading Kuany, from Melbourne, Australia:
Pro Insight: To start off, please introduce yourself to our audience.
Mading Kuany: My name is Mading Kuany. I’m from Melbourne, Australia. I’m 2007-born and I’m a 6’8” wing.
PI: Talk about your background and how you got to where you are today.
MK: I got to where I am right now because of my coaches and my siblings. My older siblings all play basketball and one day my older brother came and grabbed me and told me to come join him and ever since then I fell in love.
PI: Is there anybody else in your extended family that played basketball or sports or anything like that?
MK: A few of my cousins and one of my coaches was my uncle, so he’s very inspirational to me.
PI: Did you play any other sports growing up?
MK: Nah, not really. I played a little bit of soccer back then, but not too serious.
PI: So, why basketball? What does the game mean to you?
MK: The game is a way for me to express my feelings, basically. I love the game so much that if I’m ever feeling down on myself I can just go play basketball and feel good.
PI: Do you watch much film?
MK: Yeah, I watch a lot of film.
PI: What or who do you watch?
MK: I watch games, but instead of just watching the guy with the ball, I like to watch what other people are doing. So, like for me as a defender, I like to watch how guys move their feet. A person I watch a lot of film on is Jrue Holiday – his defensive clips. Just trying to get him sliding his feet, him on weakside help, all that.
PI: For somebody that’s never seen you play, how would you describe your game?
MK: I’d say I’m a very aggressive defender. I like to run out in transition. I’m a catch-and-shoot guy. Just very aggressive.
PI: And if there was one thing you could tell a coach you are best at, just one skill, what would you point out?
MK: I’d point out my defense, that’s who I am. I get energy from playing defense so I’d point out my on-ball defense or my help defense. I’m very good at blocking shots.
PI: Tell us a little bit about Basketball Without Borders Global Camp and how you felt this event went for you.
MK: This event was a great learning experience. Learning from a lot of new coaches and people that played in the NBA and playing with different people from all around the world was a good learning experience for me. I got to learn a lot. I got to see all the players play.
PI: Was there any particular opponent that stood out that you were playing against?
MK: There was a few opponents. One of them was named TJ Wal. Dash Daniels, he stood out to me. Dash, the way he plays defense is how I want to play defense and then TJ’s shooting abilities, they stood out to me.
PI: Interesting insights, for sure. What would you say was your biggest takeaway from BWB Global Camp?
MK: I just know from this event that I have to work ten times harder – and I need to… someone had a speech with us where he was talking about “how are you going to separate yourself from everyone else at this camp?” Because not all of us can make it…so I’m going to take his advice on how he separated himself.
PI: Any update to share on your recruitment?
MK: To be honest, I’m hearing from a few schools but nothing official yet so I don’t really want to talk about it, yet.
PI: No problem at all. Is there a vision or dream scenario, in terms of your next step in terms of the college route vs. international route?
MK: College. College would be my dream. But I would love to play pro overseas in Europe, but college right now – that’s where I want to go.
PI: Where do you see yourself three years from now?
MK: I see myself in the NBA three years from now.
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