Kings sign New Zealand international Le'afa

The Sydney Kings are thrilled to announce they've signed New Zealand international Izayah Le'afa on a two-year deal.

The 27-year-old, who has spent time with the South East Melbourne Phoenix and New Zealand Breakers over the past four seasons, is the Hoops Capital club's second free agency signing for the NBL25 season - following the unveiling of Keli Leaupepe earlier in the week.

He joins Shaun Bruce, Kouat Noi, Makuach Maluach, Alex Toohey, Klairus Amir and Leaupepe on Brian Goorjian's squad for the upcoming 2024-25 season.

"The [Hoops Capital] organisation is at the top of the basketball landscape in Australia, which mixed in with coach Goorjian being there, just seemed like the perfect situation for me at this stage of my career," the combo guard, who is currently back in New Zealand playing in the NZNBL with Wellington.

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"Being able to pick the brain and learn from one of the best coaches to ever do it is an incredible opportunity to grow my game and push me out of my comfort zone.

"Not to mention all the pieces we have in place, it really feels like the club is building something special once again in Syndey."

Born in Wellington, Le'afa made his way through the New Zealand basketball ranks while attending St. Patrick's College.

During this time, he was selected for the New Zealand Tall Blacks, making his senior national team debut as a 16-year-old (in 2013), captained the Junior Tall Blacks at the FIBA Oceania Under 18 Championship (2014) and represented New Zealand at 3x3 basketball at the Summer Youth Olympics (2014).

He also made his debut NZNBL debut and helped his hometown Wellington Saints win the championship in 2013.

In 2016, after three seasons with the Saints, the guard signed to play US college basketball with the Sacramento State Hornets - becoming the program's first-ever New Zealand-born player.

During these four seasons in California, he was a finalist for Big Sky Defensive Player of the Year (2018-19), named an honourable mention all-Big Sky Conference selection (2019-20) and in his junior and senior seasons, was named a Big Sky all-academic selection and NABC Honors Court choice for academic excellence.

Following his college career, Le'afa played one season for the Auckland Huskies, seeing him named NZNBL's Defensive Player of the Year and All-Star Five member.

On the back of this, he signed with the Phoenix as a development player which led to him becoming a fully contracted player in NBL22.

For the NBL23 season, he returned home to New Zealand and helped the Breakers reach the Championships Series against the Kings.

Most recently, he once again played a key role for the Breakers in NBL24 and was part of the Tall Blacks' squad for the 2023 FIBA World Cup and Asia Cup Qualifiers in February 2024.

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"I hope to bring all the little things to the team that help to win, like toughness, energy and team-first mentality," said Le'afa, who can't wait to play in front of the big crowds at Qudos Bank Arena.

"While I know Sydney has had a winning culture for the past few years, I feel I can contribute to that and help the organisation be even more successful.

"On the flip side, being in a new environment like Sydney, I feel can help grow my IQ for the game, leadership, being more of a knock-down shooter and continuing to elevate my defensive end of the floor - in essence becoming the best player I can possibly be.

"Goorj's team always set the tone defensively and I want to be a big part of that next season, as I take a lot of pride in that end of the floor."

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Goorjian believes Le'afa will be a valuable contributor to the Kings' on the court, as the six-time NBL championship-winning coach's team starts to take shape.

"When I started here, we essentially had a fresh canvas moving forward, with only a few guys signed which was really exciting for me, as we could go out and find people whose characteristics fit with what it means to be a King," Goorjian said.

"As well as that, we wanted talented players who were motivated and excited to be a part of this project.

"The common denominators for these players were they wanted to grow as players but also win at the highest level - mix in with a style of play that we want to play and that's how we started this build.

"That style of play was addressing an issue the team had last year which was on the defensive end of the floor and signings such as Keli [Leaupepe] and Izayah [Le'Afa] are aimed to help that, with the energy they can bring on putting pressure on the ball and ability to guard numerous positions.

"In particular, defending teams in the backcourt is an area where Izayah can be a real asset with his physicality, energy and tough mindset, which can give the top guards in this competition issues.

"We're excited about what the defensive platform can do for us and Izayah is a big part of that.

"Adding to that, Izayah's ability to be a ball-handler and take pressure off our other guards will be invaluable - his decision-making with the ball gives the team a different look than we've had in the past."

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