Daniel Michael Kickert (born 29 May 1983) is an Australian 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 ...

coach and former player who is an assistant coach for the

Sydney Kings The Sydney Kings are an Australian men's professional basketball team competing in the National Basketball League (NBL). The team is based in Sydney, New South Wales. The Kings were formed from a merger between the West Sydney Westars and the ...

of the National Basketball League (NBL). He played professionally for 15 seasons throughout Europe and Australia, with his stints in the NBL including

Melbourne United Melbourne United is an Australian professional basketball team based in Melbourne, Victoria. United compete in the National Basketball League (NBL) and play their home games at John Cain Arena. The team made their debut in the NBL in 1984 as ...

(2014–16),

Brisbane Bullets The Brisbane Bullets are an Australian professional men's basketball team in the National Basketball League (Australia), National Basketball League (NBL) based in Brisbane, Brisbane, Queensland. They competed from 1979 to 2008, and returned to th ...

(2016–18) and Sydney Kings (2018–21). In 2017, he became the first player in NBL history to join the exclusive 50–40–90 club, an achievement he replicated the following year. Kickert played

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 ...

for Saint Mary's, leaving in 2006 as the program's all-time scoring leader. He spent the next eight years playing in Europe, winning a Ukrainian SuperLeague championship in 2013 with

BC Budivelnyk BC Budivelnyk Kyiv (in Ukrainian language, Ukrainian: Будівельник Київ) is a Ukraine, Ukrainian professional basketball club based in Kyiv. The club plays in the Ukrainian Basketball SuperLeague. In June 2018, it was forced to withdr ...

. He also played for

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

at the

2017 FIBA Asia Cup The 2017 FIBA Asia Cup (formerly known as the FIBA Asia Championship) was the 29th continental basketball championship in Asia. The tournament was organised by FIBA Asia. It took place from 8 to 20 August 2017, a week earlier from the initial sche ...

and

2018 Commonwealth Games The 2018 Commonwealth Games, officially known as the XXI Commonwealth Games and also known as Gold Coast 2018, was an international multi-sport event for members of the Commonwealth that were held on the Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia, bet ...

. He retired from basketball in June 2021.

Early life and career

Kickert was born and raised in

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 ...

. He attended Aquinas College and played basketball for E Bees Junior Basketball Club and Waverley Basketball Club. He also represented Knox and

Nunawading Nunawading is a suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 18 km (11 miles) east of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the Whitehorse local government area. Nunawading recorded a population of 12,413 at the 2021 cens ...

across U12s to U18s, including playing for Nunawading in the

South East Australian Basketball League The South East Australian Basketball League (SEABL) was an Australian semi-professional basketball league. The league comprised both a men's and women's competition and was run by the country's governing body, Basketball Australia. The league wa ...

(SEABL) in 2000. In 2001, he moved to

Canberra Canberra ( ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The ci ...

on a scholarship with the

Australian Institute of Sport The Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) is a high performance sports training institution in Australia. The Institute's headquarters were opened in 1981 and are situated in the northern suburb of Bruce, Canberra. The AIS is a division of the ...

(AIS). He played for the AIS SEABL team in 2001 and 2002, where in his second year, he averaged 18 points and seven rebounds in 30 minutes per game while being named to the All-SEABL Eastern Conference team.

College career

In his freshman season at Saint Mary's in 2002–03, Kickert earned All-Freshman team honours by ''CollegeInsider.com''. He finished the season as the only Gael to start all 30 games, tied for 11th in the conference in scoring and had the third-best field goal percentage (52.0%) in the conference. In those 30 games, he averaged 12.7 points and 3.7 rebounds per game. In his sophomore season, Kickert was named to the All-West Coast Conference first team and earned the Shamrock Office Solutions Classic Most Valuable Player award. He was also named to the Top of the World Classic All-Tournament team. In 31 games (all starts), he averaged 14.9 points and 5.9 rebounds per game. In his junior season, Kickert was named to the All-West Coast Conference first team for the second straight year. He was also named to the USBWA All-District 9 first team and the NABC District 14 second team, while earning WCC Player of the Year honours by ''CollegeInsider.com''. In addition, he was named to the WCC All-Tournament team after averaging 22.0 points and 4.5 rebounds against Santa Clara and Gonzaga. In 34 games (all starts), he averaged 16.6 points, 6.6 rebounds and 1.0 assists per game. In his senior season, Kickert was named to the All-West Coast Conference first team for the third straight year and earned the Shamrock Office Solutions Classic Most Valuable Player award for the second time in his career. In 28 games (all starts), he averaged 16.7 points, 5.6 rebounds and 1.0 assists per game. He finished his career ranked as the all-time scorer in SMC history with 1,874 points.

College statistics

, - , style="text-align:left;", 2002–03 , style="text-align:left;", Saint Mary's , 30 , , 30 , , 25.5 , , .520 , , .447 , , .782 , , 3.7 , , .7 , , .3 , , .6 , , 12.7 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2003–04 , style="text-align:left;", Saint Mary's , 31 , , 31 , , 28.1 , , .506 , , .390 , , .766 , , 5.9 , , .7 , , .4 , , .5 , , 14.9 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2004–05 , style="text-align:left;", Saint Mary's , 34 , , 34 , , 30.9 , , .538 , , .471 , , .846 , , 6.6 , , 1.0 , , .4 , , .7 , , 16.6 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2005–06 , style="text-align:left;", Saint Mary's , 28 , , 28 , , 33.5 , , .454 , , .457 , , .880 , , 5.6 , , 1.0 , , .6 , , .7 , , 16.7 , - , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 123 , , 123 , , 29.5 , , .504 , , .447 , , .816 , , 5.5 , , .9 , , .4 , , .6 , , 15.2 , -

Professional career

Europe (2006–2014)

After going undrafted in the 2006 NBA draft, Kickert played in Italy for his first professional season, averaging 10 points per game for

Basket Livorno Pallacanestro Don Bosco Livorno, founded in 1996, is a professional Italian basketball club from the town of Livorno, Tuscany, playing in the Serie C (third division) as of June 2015. Formerly a youth section of Basket Livorno, Don Bosco has gone ...

during the 2006–07 season. He spent the next three seasons in Spain, playing the 2007–08 season with

CB Breogán Club Baloncesto Breogán, S.A.D., also known as Río Breogán for sponsorship reasons, is a professional basketball club based in Lugo, Spain. The team plays in the Liga ACB. The club was founded in 1966 by the Varela-Portas brothers. The team pla ...

before joining

Gran Canaria Gran Canaria (, ; ), also Grand Canary Island, is the third-largest and second-most-populous island of the Canary Islands, an archipelago off the Atlantic coast of Northwest Africa which is part of Spain. the island had a population of that co ...

. He parted ways with Canaria in July 2010 after two seasons. On 2 February 2011, Kickert joined Polish team

Turów Zgorzelec PGE Turów Zgorzelec is a Polish a basketball team based in Zgorzelec. The club played in the Polish League (PLK) and won the Polish championship once, in the 2013–14 season. The club was sponsored by the PGE Group, and they are also the clu ...

for a three-day trial. Following the trial period, he signed with Turów for the rest of the 2010–11 season. He averaged 9.3 points and 2.8 rebounds over 25 games. Though he came off the bench for most of the season, Kickert moved into the starting lineup for the Polish League finals and produced 13.6 points and 4.9 boards in the seven-game series as Turów nearly upset Asseco Prokom for the title. On 25 July 2011, he re-signed with Turów for the 2011–12 season. In 2012, Kickert moved to

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...

, where he spent the next two years. He began the 2012–13 season with

BC Dnipro Basketball Club Dnipro ( uk, баскетбольний клуб "Дніпро"), commonly known as simply Dnipro, is a Ukrainian professional basketball club that is based in Dnipro. The home court of the club is Palace of Sports Shynnik. The wome ...

, before finishing the season with

. He played the majority of the 2013–14 season with

BC Azovmash MBK Mariupol ( uk, МБК «Маріуполь»") (former name: BK Azovmash)is a Ukrainian professional basketball club. It was founded in 1990 in the city of Mariupol in South-Eastern Ukraine. Mariupol was one of the strongest teams in Ukraine ...

, but left the country to return to Spain in March 2014 due to the Ukraine's military conflict with Russia. He finished the 2013–14 season with

Iberostar Tenerife Club Cantera Base 1939 Canarias S.A.D., also known as Lenovo Tenerife for sponsorship reasons, is a professional basketball team that is based in San Cristóbal de La Laguna, Tenerife, Spain. Domestically, the team plays in the top level league i ...

Australia and New Zealand (2014–2021)

On 13 August 2014, Kickert signed with

for the

2014–15 NBL season The 2014–15 NBL season was the 37th season of competition since its establishment in 1979. A total of eight teams contested the league. The regular season was played between 10 October 2014 and 22 February 2015, followed by a post-season featu ...

. In 28 games for Melbourne, he averaged 13.8 points and 4.4 rebounds per game. On 10 June 2015, Kickert re-signed with United for the 2015–16 season. He came very close to becoming the first NBL player ever to join the exclusive 50–40–90 club. He did reach the required splits—finishing the season with figures of 52.5/47.2/90.5—but fell four made free throws short of the minimum requirements. Kickert helped United win the minor premiership in 2015–16 with a first-place finish and an 18–10 record, while earning All-NBL First Team honours. In 28 games, he averaged 14.8 points, 3.8 rebounds and 1.2 assists per game. On 8 April 2016, Kickert signed with the

. After coming close in 2015–16, Kickert became the first player in NBL history to join the 50–40–90 club in 2016–17. He averaged 12.8 points per game and shot 54.4 percent from the field, 45.9 percent from three and 95.0 percent from the line. In the 2017 off-season, Kickert had a stint with the South West Metro Pirates of the

Queensland Basketball League NBL1 North, formerly the Queensland Basketball League (QBL), is a semi-professional basketball league in Queensland and Northern Territory, Australia, comprising both a men's and women's competition. In 2020, Basketball Queensland partnered wit ...

, and competed at the

with 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 ...

. With the Bullets in 2017–18, Kickert recorded 50–40–90 numbers for the second consecutive year, averaging 14 points per game while shooting 52.2 percent from the field, 41.8 percent from three and 92.2 percent from the line. On 27 April 2018, Kickert signed a two-year deal with the

, with a team option for the second year. The Kings took up that option on 29 March 2019. In April 2019, Kickert joined the

Hawke's Bay Hawks The Hawke's Bay Hawks are a New Zealand basketball team based in Napier. The Hawks compete in the National Basketball League (NBL) and play their home games at Pettigrew Green Arena. For sponsorship reasons, they are known as the Taylor Hawks ...

for the

2019 New Zealand NBL season The 2019 NBL season was the 38th season of the National Basketball League. The competition increased to nine teams in 2019 with the Southern Huskies joining the league for the first time, marking the first time ever that an Australian team has ...

, but injured his back in the first game. He returned to action in mid-May, but only managed seven games for the season due to the back injury. On 3 September 2020, Kickert re-signed with the Kings on a one-year deal. At age 37, he was the league's oldest player in the

2020–21 NBL season The 2020–21 NBL season was the 43rd season of the National Basketball League since its establishment in 1979. A total of nine teams contested in the 2020–21 season. The regular season was played between January and June 2021, followed by a p ...

. On 11 June 2021, Kickert announced his retirement from professional basketball.

National team career

Kickert competed for the

at the

2006 Stanković Continental Champions' Cup 6 (six) is the natural number following 5 and preceding 7. It is a composite number and the smallest perfect number. In mathematics Six is the smallest positive integer which is neither a square number nor a prime number; it is the second small ...

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 ...

, 2011 London Invitational Tournament,

, and

. In July 2018, Kickert was involved in the

Philippines–Australia basketball brawl The Philippines–Australia basketball brawl occurred between players of the Philippine and Australian men's national basketball teams during a match held on 2 July 2018 at the Philippine Arena in Bocaue, Bulacan, Philippines. The match was part ...

during the FIBA Basketball World Cup Asian qualification. As a result, he was suspended for five games.

Coaching career

In September 2021, Kickert stepped into the role of Assistant Coach and Player Development Coordinator for the

Personal

Kickert's parents are Rudy and Jenny. His wife's name is Erica. He holds a

Dutch passport Dutch passports are issued to citizens of the Kingdom of the Netherlands for the purpose of international travel. As the Netherlands only distinguish one category of citizen (Nederlandse (Dutch), NLD), for all countries in the Kingdom, passport ...

. As of February 2020, Kickert was studying a Master of Business (Sport Management) at

Deakin University Deakin University is a public university in Victoria, Australia. Founded in 1974, the university was named after Alfred Deakin, the second Prime Minister of Australia. Its main campuses are in Melbourne's Burwood suburb, Geelong Waurn Ponds, ...

References

External links

Brisbane Bullets player profileSaint Mary's bioEuroleague.net profile"Daniel Kickert: Back-to-back threes"
at nbl.com.au
"Knocking on the door of the 50-40-90 Club"
at nbl.com.au {{DEFAULTSORT:Kickert, Daniel 1983 births Living people 2006 FIBA World Championship players Australian expatriate basketball people in Italy Australian expatriate basketball people in Poland Australian expatriate basketball people in Spain Australian expatriate basketball people in the United States Australian Institute of Sport basketball players Basket Livorno players Basketball players at the 2018 Commonwealth Games Basketball players from Melbourne BC Azovmash players BC Budivelnyk players BC Dnipro players Brisbane Bullets players CB Breogán players CB Canarias players CB Gran Canaria players Centers (basketball) Commonwealth Games gold medallists for Australia Commonwealth Games medallists in basketball Hawke's Bay Hawks players Melbourne United players Power forwards (basketball) Saint Mary's Gaels men's basketball players Sydney Kings players Turów Zgorzelec players