Ben Pepper (born 15 July 1975) is a retired Australian

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

player, who played twelve seasons in the National Basketball League.

Professional career

Ben Pepper, a

center Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentrici ...

began his pro career in the NBL with the

Newcastle Falcons Newcastle Falcons is a rugby union team that play in Premiership Rugby, England's highest division of rugby union. The club was established in 1877 as the Gosforth Football Club. Around 1882 the club merged with the Northumberland Football Cl ...

in the 1996 NBL season. After an impressive debut season he would go on to win the NBL's Most Improved Player and the NBL's Sixth Man of the Year awards in 1997. Pepper then decided to try his luck with the

NBA The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United St ...

and entered into the 1997 NBA draft. He was selected by the

Boston Celtics The Boston Celtics ( ) are an American professional basketball team based in Boston. The Celtics compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Atlantic Division. Founded in 1946 as one of t ...

with the 56th overall pick, one of four Australians drafted that year. Pepper was one of three 7-foot-tall Australian centers selected in the 1997 draft, the others being

Chris Anstey Christopher John Anstey (born 1 January 1975) is an Australian former professional basketball player. His career included stints in the National Basketball Association (NBA), Russia and Spain. Anstey was selected by the Portland Trail Blazers ...

and Paul Rogers. A fourth Australian,

C. J. Bruton Calvin Thomas "C. J." Bruton Jr. (born 13 December 1975) is an American-Australian professional basketball coach and former player who is the head coach for the Adelaide 36ers of the Australian National Basketball League (NBL). He played the ma ...

, was also selected in the draft.From out of nowhere, Jawai is drafted to NBA
/ref> The Celtics never signed Pepper and he came back to the NBL and played for the

North Melbourne Giants The North Melbourne Giants, previously known as the Coburg Giants, were an Australian professional basketball team based in Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/ Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of ...

in the 1998 season. After the season the Giants merged with cross-

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

rivals the

South East Melbourne Magic The South East Melbourne Magic was an Australian basketball team based in Melbourne. The Magic competed in the National Basketball League (NBL) between 1992 and 1998, and played their home games at Rod Laver Arena. In their seven seasons, the ...

to become the

Victorian Titans The Victoria Titans (known in its final two seasons as the Victoria Giants), were an Australian professional basketball team that competed in the National Basketball League (NBL). The club was based in Melbourne, Victoria. History The Titans ...

where he became one of the most dominant centers in the competition. He narrowly missed out on an NBL championship when the Titans were defeated 2–1 in the 1998–99 NBL grand final series by the

Adelaide 36ers The Adelaide 36ers, also known as the Sixers, are an Australian professional men's basketball team in the National Basketball League (NBL). The 36ers are the only team in the league representing the state of South Australia and are based in th ...

. Pepper signed with the

Wollongong Hawks The Illawarra Hawks (formerly the Wollongong Hawks and The Hawks) is an Australian professional basketball team based in Wollongong, New South Wales. The Illawarra Hawks compete in the National Basketball League (Australia), National Basketball ...

for the 2001–02 NBL season and spent two seasons there before switching back to Victoria to play for the Victoria Giants in 2003–04. When the Giants folded after the 2004 season, he was signed up by the

New Zealand Breakers The New Zealand Breakers (also known as the Sky Sport Breakers for sponsorship reasons) are a New Zealand professional basketball team based in Auckland. The Breakers compete in the National Basketball League (NBL) and play their home games at ...

for the 2004–05 and 2005–06 NBL seasons and was named Breakers MVP for the 2005–06 season. After two seasons in New Zealand, Pepper was signed by the

Townsville Crocodiles The Townsville Crocodiles were an Australian professional men's basketball team based in the North Queensland city of Townsville. They competed in the National Basketball League (NBL) and played their home games at the Townsville Entertainmen ...

. In his first year with the Crocs he had the fifth-best field goal percentage in the league, shooting at 58.2%. He retired from the NBL after the 2007–08 season. Despite being a dominant player in the NBL for numerous years Ben Pepper rarely played for the

Australian Boomers The Australian men's national basketball team, known as the Boomers after the slang term for a male kangaroo, represents Australia in international basketball competition. Since the late 1980s, Australia has been placed among the world elite t ...

. In 1997, he was a member of the gold medal-winning Australian team at the

FIBA Under-21 World Championship The FIBA Under-21 World Championship was a men's under-21-only basketball competition organized by the International Basketball Federation The International Basketball Federation (FIBA ; French: ) is an association of national organization ...

held in Melbourne.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pepper, Ben 1975 births Living people Australian men's basketball players Australian expatriate sportspeople in New Zealand Boston Celtics draft picks Centers (basketball) Newcastle Falcons (basketball) players New Zealand Breakers players North Melbourne Giants players Sportspeople from Geraldton Townsville Crocodiles players Victoria Giants players Victoria Titans players Wollongong Hawks players Sportsmen from Western Australia