No. 12–New Zealand Breakers | |||||||||||||||
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Position | Forward | ||||||||||||||
League | NBL | ||||||||||||||
Personal information | |||||||||||||||
Born | Saint Vincent and the Grenadines | 30 September 2000||||||||||||||
Nationality | Vincentian / New Zealand | ||||||||||||||
Listed height | 198 cm (6 ft 6 in) | ||||||||||||||
Listed weight | 118 kg (260 lb) | ||||||||||||||
Career information | |||||||||||||||
High school |
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NBA draft | 2022: undrafted | ||||||||||||||
Playing career | 2017–present | ||||||||||||||
Career history | |||||||||||||||
2017–2018 | Canterbury Rams | ||||||||||||||
2018–2020 | Vrijednosnice Osijek | ||||||||||||||
2020–2021 | Illawarra Hawks | ||||||||||||||
2021–2024 | Canterbury Rams | ||||||||||||||
2021–2022 | CSM Constanța | ||||||||||||||
2023–present | New Zealand Breakers | ||||||||||||||
Career highlights and awards | |||||||||||||||
Medals
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Maxwell Ronaldo McKenzie Darling (born 30 September 2000) is a Vincentian-New Zealand professional basketball player for the New Zealand Breakers of the Australian National Basketball League (NBL).
Darling was born in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. [1] He spent most of his childhood in New Zealand. [2] Darling learnt how to dunk a basketball at the age of 12. [3] He attended high school at Christ's College in Christchurch and Nelson College in Nelson. [4] Darling participated in the Mainland Eagles Basketball Academy in Christchurch where he first caught the attention of the Canterbury Rams of the New Zealand National Basketball League (NZNBL). [3]
Darling played two games for the Canterbury Rams of the NZNBL in 2017 when he was sixteen-years-old. [5] He returned to the Rams for the 2018 season when he averaged 9.3 points and 5.8 rebounds per game and earned the NZNBL Youth Player of the Year Award. [3]
On 18 August 2018, Darling signed with Vrijednosnice Osijek of the Croatian Premijer liga. [1] He became the first New Zealand teenage basketball player to sign in Europe who did not have a European passport. [1] Darling averaged 10.2 points and 5.4 rebounds during the 2019–20 season before it was ended early due to the COVID-19 pandemic. [6]
On 5 August 2020, Darling signed with the Illawarra Hawks of the Australian National Basketball League (NBL) on a three-year deal. [6] He appeared in 17 games and averaged five minutes per game. [7] On 19 July 2021, Darling and the Hawks mutually agreed to part ways. [7]
Darling returned to the Rams for the 2021 NZNBL season. [4] He played for CSM Constanța of the Romanian Liga Națională during the 2021–22 season. [8] Darling again returned to the Rams for the 2022 NZNBL season. [8] He won a NZNBL championship with the Rams during the 2023 NZNBL season and averaged 12.9 points and 5.4 rebounds per game. [9]
On 26 September 2023, Darling signed with the New Zealand Breakers of the NBL as a development player. [9] He only appeared in one game for the Breakers during the 2023–24 NBL season. [10] Darling returned to the Rams for the 2024 NZNBL season, [5] winning a second consecutive championship. [11]
On 7 August 2024, Darling was elevated to a full roster spot by the Breakers and signed a new two-year contract with a third-year option. [12] On 19 October 2024, he scored 15 points in an 89–85 win over the Perth Wildcats. [13] [14]
In 2018, Darling was invited to participate in training camp for the New Zealand men's national basketball team in preparation for the 2019 FIBA Basketball World Cup. [15] He played for the New Zealand men's national under-19 basketball team at the 2019 FIBA Under-19 Basketball World Cup. [4]
Darling was named to the final roster for the New Zealand men's national basketball team at the 2022 FIBA Asia Cup, [16] where the team finished in third place. [17]
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