James Harvey (born 15 February 1979) is an Australian former professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

player who played 15 seasons in the National Basketball League (NBL).

Basketball career

Born and raised in

Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth i ...

, Harvey began playing for the

Cockburn Cougars Cockburn Cougars is an NBL1 West club based in Perth, Western Australia. The club fields a team in both the Men's and Women's NBL1 West. The club is a division of Cockburn Basketball Association (CBA), the major administrative basketball organis ...

of the State Basketball League (SBL) in 1996 and won the league's

Rookie of the Year award A rookie is a person new to an occupation, profession, or hobby. In sports, a ''rookie'' is a professional athlete in their first season (or year). In contrast with a veteran who has experience and expertise, a rookie is usually inexperienced ...

the following year. After another successful year in the SBL with the

Perry Lakes Hawks Perry Lakes Hawks is an NBL1 West club based in Perth, Western Australia. The club fields a team in both the Men's and Women's NBL1 West. The club is a division of Perry Lakes Basketball Association (PLBA), the major administrative basketball org ...

in 1998, Harvey signed with the

Perth Wildcats The Perth Wildcats are an Australian professional basketball team based in Perth, Western Australia. The Wildcats compete in the National Basketball League (Australia), National Basketball League (NBL) and play their home games at Perth Arena, ...

for the

1998–99 NBL season The 1998–99 NBL season was the 21st season of competition since its establishment in 1979. A total of 11 teams contested the league. This season marked the first summer season for the NBL. The Townsville Suns were renamed the Townsville Crocod ...

and continued playing for the Wildcats until 2004. He was part of Perth's 1999–2000 NBL championship and 2002–03 grand final appearance, and won the league's Most Improved Player award in 2001. Harvey also continued to play in the SBL with Perry Lakes in 1999, and with the

Willetton Tigers Willetton Tigers is an NBL1 West club based in Perth, Western Australia. The club fields a team in both the Men's and Women's NBL1 West. The club is a division of Willetton Basketball Association (WBA), the major administrative basketball organ ...

in 2000, leading the league in scoring that year with 518 total points. In 97 games over five SBL seasons, Harvey averaged 22.8 points per game. Following the conclusion of the 2003–04 NBL season, Harvey ventured to Israel where he played one game for Maccabi Rishon LeZion. In July 2004, he played in the Treviso Summer League. He later re-signed with Maccabi for the 2004–05 season, but managed just five games for the club before departing Israel in November 2004. In 2005, after a short stint with the

Perth Redbacks Perth Redbacks is an NBL1 West club based in Perth, Western Australia. The club fields a team in both the Men's and Women's NBL1 West. The club is a division of Perth Basketball Association (PBA), the major administrative basketball organisation ...

, Harvey signed with the

West Sydney Razorbacks The West Sydney Razorbacks (known in its final season as the Sydney Spirit) were an Australian professional basketball team that competed in the National Basketball League (NBL). The club was based in Sydney, New South Wales. They were the ...

, where he spent two seasons playing alongside Scott McGregor for head coach Mark Watkins. In May 2007, Harvey was the first signing and inaugural captain of the newly established

Gold Coast Blaze The Gold Coast Blaze were an Australian men's professional basketball team which competed in the National Basketball League (NBL). The Blaze competed in their inaugural season in 2007–08. The club was based on the Gold Coast and joined the ...

. In his first season with the Blaze, Harvey averaged 21.4 points per game which was top ten in the league, finished second in three-point percentage (45%) and led the club to the playoffs in their debut season. He was subsequently named to the All-NBL second team in 2007–08 and 2008–09. On 15 May 2012, Harvey signed a two-year deal with the Sydney Kings. During his time with the Kings, he was the team's co-captain. On 4 February 2013, Harvey was named in the Perth Wildcats 30th Anniversary All-Star team.

Post-playing career

Harvey joined the

Fox Sports Fox Sports is the brand name for a number of sports channels, broadcast divisions, programming, and other media around the world. The ''Fox Sports'' name has since been used for other sports media assets. These assets are held mainly by the F ...

NBL commentary team for the 2015–16 season.

National team career

Harvey was a regular representative of 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 ...

, as he captained them to a historic Stanković Cup win in 2009, and was named tournament MVP and earned All-Star five honours.BOOMERS TOPPLE TURKEY TO WIN STANKOVIC CUP GOLD
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References

External links

Eurobasket.com profileNBL statsTake 40: James Harvey
{{DEFAULTSORT:Harvey, James 1979 births Living people Australian men's basketball players Gold Coast Blaze players Maccabi Rishon LeZion basketball players Perth Wildcats players Shooting guards Small forwards Basketball players from Perth, Western Australia Sydney Kings players West Sydney Razorbacks players