Craig Robert Bradshaw (born 28 July 1983) is a New Zealand former professional

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. Bradshaw played four years of

college basketball In United States colleges, top-tier basketball is governed by collegiate athletic bodies including National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), the United States Collegiate Athleti ...

Winthrop University Winthrop University is a public university in Rock Hill, South Carolina. It was founded in 1886 by David Bancroft Johnson, who served as the superintendent of Columbia, South Carolina, schools. He received a grant from Robert Charles Winthrop, ...

in the United States before playing professionally with clubs in New Zealand, Australia, Turkey, Spain, South Korea and Latvia from 2007 to 2012.

Early life

Bradshaw grew up in Stokes Valley and was a promising

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In it ...

player. He was noticed for his basketball talent at St. Bernard's College in

Lower Hutt Lower Hutt ( mi, Te Awa Kairangi ki Tai) is a city in the Wellington Region of New Zealand. Administered by the Hutt City Council, it is one of the four cities that constitute the Wellington metropolitan area. It is New Zealand's sixth most ...

and spent his last two years of high school at Wellington High School, where he focused solely on basketball. In 2001, he played for the Wellington College Saints in the

Conference Basketball League The Conference Basketball League (CBL) was a second-tiered men's semi-professional basketball league in New Zealand. During the 1980s and 1990s, the CBL served as a means of promotion and relegation between the National Basketball League (NBL) ...

(CBL) and helped the team reach the final. He was named to the CBL Finals All-Star Five. In 2002 and 2003, he played in the New Zealand NBL for the

Wellington Saints The Wellington Saints are a New Zealand basketball team based in Wellington. The Saints compete in the National Basketball League (NBL) and play their home games at TSB Bank Arena. Team history The Wellington Saints were founded in 1981. In 1 ...

. In 13 games for the Saints over two seasons, he averaged 3.8 points and 2.8 rebounds per game.

College career

Bradshaw played four seasons of

for

in the United States between 2003 and 2007, where he averaged 9.2 points and 4.7 rebounds in 123 games (104 starts). During that time, the Eagles played in three NCAA tournaments and won three

Big South Conference The Big South Conference is a collegiate athletic conference affiliated with the NCAA's Division I. Originally a non- football conference, the Big South began sponsoring football in 2002 as part of the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS). ...

championships. As a junior and senior, he was named to the Big South Conference All-Tournament Team, while also earning Tournament MVP and first-team All-Big South as a senior.

Professional career

Atlanta Hawks (2007)

After going undrafted in the 2007 NBA draft, Bradshaw joined the

Atlanta Hawks The Atlanta Hawks are an American professional basketball team based in Atlanta. The Hawks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Southeast Division. The team plays its home games at ...

for the

NBA Summer League The NBA Summer League, also known as the Las Vegas Summer League, is an off-season competition organized by the National Basketball Association. NBA teams come together to try out different summer rosters instead of their regular season line-ups ...

tournament in Salt Lake City. In five games for the Hawks, he averaged 4.4 points and 1.8 rebounds in 10.0 minutes per game.

Brisbane Bullets (2007–2008)

Following his stint with the Atlanta Hawks, Bradshaw joined the Brisbane Bullets for the 2007–08 NBL season. In 30 games for the Bullets, he averaged 13.5 points and 5.7 rebounds per game.

Efes Pilsen (2008)

In March 2008, Bradshaw signed with Turkish team

Efes Pilsen Anadolu Efes Biracılık ve Malt Sanayii A.Ş.''(lit. Anadolu Efes Brewery and Malt Industries)'' produces and markets beer and malt and non-alcoholic beverages in a wide geographical area comprising Turkey, Russia, the Commonwealth of Independ ...

for the rest of the season. In six games for Efes, he averaged 6.2 points and 3.3 rebounds in 15.8 minutes per game.

Grupo Begar León (2008–2009)

In August 2008, Bradshaw signed with Spanish team Grupo Begar León. In 34 games for León in 2008–09, he averaged 9.4 points and 5.1 rebounds per game.

2009–10 season

In August 2009, Bradshaw joined Korean team

Changwon LG Sakers Changwon LG Sakers are a basketball team located in the city of Changwon in South Gyeongsang Province, South Korea. They play in the Korean Basketball League, and their home arena is Changwon Gymnasium which has a capacity for approximately 6,000 ...

. In December 2009, he left Changwon and returned to Australia, signing with the

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 ...

as an injury replacement for

Pero Cameron Sean Pero MacPherson Cameron (born 5 June 1974) is a New Zealand basketball coach and former player. A FIBA Hall of Fame member, he captained the New Zealand Tall Blacks from 2000 to 2010, helping lead New Zealand to the semifinal of the 2002 ...

. He spent the remainder of the 2009–10 NBL season with the Blaze, helping them reach the semi-finals where they were swept 2–0 by the Perth Wildcats. On 12 March 2010, Bradshaw signed with Latvian team VEF Rīga. However, on 3 May 2010, he parted ways with Rīga after sustaining a season-ending leg injury.

New Zealand (2011–2012)

On 23 December 2010, Bradshaw with the

Otago Nuggets The Otago Nuggets are a New Zealand basketball team based in Dunedin. The Nuggets compete in the National Basketball League (NBL) and play their home games at the Edgar Centre. For sponsorship reasons, they are known as the Night 'n Day Otag ...

for the

2011 New Zealand NBL season The 2011 NBL season was the 30th season of the National Basketball League. In 2011, the Auckland Pirates debuted in the league but the Christchurch Cougars did not take part due to the effects of the 2011 Canterbury earthquake. The Harbour Hea ...

, returning to the league for the first time since 2003. He appeared in all 16 games for the Nuggets in 2011, averaging 18.5 points, 8.5 rebounds and 2.4 assists per game. On 28 October 2011, Bradshaw signed with the

Southland Sharks The Southland Sharks are a New Zealand basketball team based in Invercargill. The Sharks compete in the National Basketball League (NBL) and play their home games at Stadium Southland. For sponsorship reasons, they are known as the SBS Bank So ...

for the

2012 New Zealand NBL season The 2012 NBL season was the 31st season of the National Basketball League. While the Harbour Heat returned for the 2012 season, the Waikato Pistons dropped out of the league. It marked the first time the league had no Waikato presence since 1 ...

. He appeared in all 16 games for the Sharks in 2012, averaging 17.1 points, 5.4 rebounds and 1.1 assists per game.

National team career

Bradshaw represented New Zealand with the Tall Blacks at the

2004 Summer Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics ( el, Θερινοί Ολυμπιακοί Αγώνες 2004, ), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad ( el, Αγώνες της 28ης Ολυμπιάδας, ) and also known as Athens 2004 ( el, Αθήνα 2004), ...

2005 FIBA Oceania Championship The FIBA Oceania Championship for Men 2005 was the qualifying tournament of FIBA Oceania for the 2006 FIBA World Championship. The tournament, a best-of-three series between and , was held in Auckland and Dunedin. Australia won all three games. ...

2006 FIBA World Championship The 2006 FIBA World Championship was the 15th FIBA World Championship, the international basketball world championship for men's national teams. The tournament was hosted by Japan and held from 19 August to 3 September 2006. It was co-organised by ...

2007 FIBA Oceania Championship The FIBA Oceania Championship for Men 2007 was the qualifying tournament of FIBA Oceania for the men's basketball tournament at the 2008 Summer Olympics at Beijing. The tournament, a best-of-three series between Australia and New Zealand, was ...

2008 Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and also known as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 Nat ...

, and the

2010 FIBA World Championship The 2010 FIBA World Championship was the 16th FIBA World Championship, the international basketball world championship contested by the men's national teams. The tournament ran from 28 August to 12 September 2010. It was co-organised by the Inte ...

. Bradshaw put his name up in bright lights in 2006 when he scored 25 points to help lead the Tall Blacks to their first away win over Australia.

Personal life

In 2012, Bradshaw married Felicity Kenny. The couple have one daughter together. Bradshaw has an entrepreneurship degree and set up his own travel management company, New Zealand Specialty Tours, which specialises in developing custom-built itineraries for visitors to New Zealand. In October 2016, Bradshaw was ordered to pay a $750 emotional harm fee after he was convicted of kicking a bouncer in the head at a Queenstown bar on 13 June 2014. He was sentenced on one charge of assault with intent to injure and, as well as the emotional harm payment, was ordered to pay a $500 fine along with courts costs. In March 2017, he had an appeal against his assault conviction thrown out. Bradshaw appealed against a conviction of assault with intent to injure, based on "undue delay" in the court process, errors in the way the trial proceeded and the refusal of a discharge without conviction.

References

External links

Basketball New Zealand profile (2006)Basketball New Zealand profile (2009)"Craig Bradshaw still a force despite injuries"
at stuff.co.nz {{DEFAULTSORT:Bradshaw, Craig 1983 births Living people 2006 FIBA World Championship players 2010 FIBA World Championship players Anadolu Efes S.K. players Baloncesto León players Basketball players at the 2004 Summer Olympics BK VEF Rīga players Brisbane Bullets players Centers (basketball) Changwon LG Sakers players Gold Coast Blaze players New Zealand men's basketball players New Zealand expatriate basketball people in Australia New Zealand expatriate basketball people in Latvia New Zealand expatriate basketball people in the United States New Zealand expatriate basketball people in South Korea New Zealand expatriate basketball people in Spain New Zealand expatriate basketball people in Turkey Olympic basketball players of New Zealand Otago Nuggets players People educated at St Bernard's College, Lower Hutt People educated at Wellington High School, New Zealand Power forwards (basketball) Southland Sharks players Sportspeople from Lower Hutt Wellington Saints players Winthrop Eagles men's basketball players