Akoldah Gak (born 12 July 2002) is an Australian professional basketball player for the Mexico City Capitanes of the NBA G League.

Early life

Gak was born in Sydney, New South Wales, to parents who had fled South Sudan and moved to Australia.[1] He attended St Dominic's College in Sydney.[2] Gak received a scholarship to attend Blair Academy in the United States in 2018 through a basketball pipeline that was established by professional basketball player and Blair alumni, Luol Deng.[1]

Professional career

On 12 October 2020, Gak signed a three-year deal with the Illawarra Hawks of the National Basketball League (NBL).[3] He was rostered as a development player during the 2020–21 NBL season before he became a contracted player for the remainder of his tenure.[3] Gak's family chose for him to develop in Australia due to the global uncertainty from the COVID-19 pandemic; Hawks head coach Brian Goorjian considered the assignment of a National Basketball Association (NBA) prospect to his team as a "real compliment".[4] Gak received limited playing time during his three seasons with the Hawks.[5]

In the 2022 off-season, Gak played for the Chicago Bulls in the NBA Summer League[6] and had a one-game stint with the Illawarra Hawks in the NBL1 East.[7] In the 2023 off-season, he played for the Southern Districts Spartans in the NBL1 North.[7]

On 10 April 2023, Gak signed a two-year deal with the Cairns Taipans.[8]

Gak joined the West Adelaide Bearcats for the 2024 NBL1 Central season.[7] He was named the NBL1 Central U23 Player of the Year.[9]

On 4 December 2024, Gak was ruled out for a month with a knee injury.[10]

On 2 March 2025, Gak signed with the Mexico City Capitanes of the NBA G League.[11]

National team career

Gak played for the Australia men's national under-19 basketball team at the 2021 FIBA Under-19 Basketball World Cup.[12] In 2022, he played for the Australian Boomers in three FIBA World Cup Asian qualifiers.[13]

Personal life

Two of Gak's older brothers have played college basketball: Gorjok for the California Baptist Lancers and Deng for the Miami Hurricanes.[1][4]

References

  1. ^ a b c Red, Christian (5 December 2018). "Luol Deng helps connect Australia's South Sudanese basketball pipeline". ESPN. Retrieved 9 July 2021.
  2. ^ "Basketball success for former student, Akoldah Gak". St Dominic's College. June 2021. Retrieved 9 July 2021.
  3. ^ a b "Hawks Sign Akoldah Gak". NBL. 12 October 2020. Retrieved 9 July 2021.
  4. ^ a b "'NBA prospect' Gak signs as Hawks' NBL development player". Illawarra Mercury. 12 October 2020. Retrieved 9 July 2021.
  5. ^ "NBA Aspirant Gak Signs in Cairns". NBL. 10 April 2023. Retrieved 25 October 2023.
  6. ^ "Bulls announce Summer League 2022 schedule and roster". NBA. 30 June 2022. Retrieved 31 January 2023.
  7. ^ a b c "Akoldah Gak". Australiabasket.com. Retrieved 28 April 2024.
  8. ^ "Taipans get Gak". taipans.com. 10 April 2023. Retrieved 10 April 2023.
  9. ^ "2024 NBL1 Awards Tracker". NBL1.com.au. 22 July 2024. Archived from the original on 23 July 2024.
  10. ^ "Taipans Injury Update: NBL Round 11". Cairns Taipans | Official NBL Website. 4 December 2024. Retrieved 5 December 2024.
  11. ^ "Anuncio Akoldah Gak". Mexico City Capitanes (in Spanish). 2 March 2025. Retrieved 10 March 2025.
  12. ^ "Under 19 Men's 2021 World Cup Squad Revealed". Basketball Australia. 3 June 2021. Retrieved 9 July 2021.
  13. ^ "Akoldah Gak". FIBA. Retrieved 28 April 2024.
No tags for this post.