Tim Soares joins the Sydney Kings as one of their newest imports, and he's focused on being the best centre in the league and leading the team to back-to-back championships.

He's a player who has taken an unusual journey to reach the NBL. With his mother and father, both professional basketball players who met while in Brazil, he developed his early game in Brazil (he is only the second NBL player ever to grow up in Brazil) before moving to the USA to play college basketball.

With his family having a strong Christian faith, he chose to play at the little-known Master's University in California, an NAIA school, before nominating for the NBA Draft.

Due to COVID-19 he was unable to participate in any pre-draft workouts for teams and ultimately wasn't selected in the 2020 NBA Draft. Since then, he's played in Turkey and Israel prior to signing a deal to play in Australia, which he hopes to use as a springboard to the NBA like former Brazilian and Sydney Kings star Didi Louzada.

He joins Dan Boyce on the podcast to take us through all of this and much, much more.

Topics include...

• Thoughts on the NBL after playing in his first NBLgame (2;00)
• His NBA summer league experience with Milwaukee (6:00)
• Thoughts on Australia and the NBL before arriving (7:00)
• Thoughts on coach Chase Buford and which teammates have been getting him accustomed to the Australian lifestyle (8:30)
• How is his resume not the same as your usual NBL import (11:00)
• Attending an NAIA university instead of an NCAA university to become a pro (14:00)
• Basketball genes run deep in the Soares family (18:00)
• Graduating college and interest from NBA teams (19:00)
• Playing in Europe for his first seasons as a pro (22:00)
• Things he's planning to do while in Australia (24:00)
• How he was offered the opportunity to play for the Sydney Kings (25:00)
• Players and teams, he's keen to face during the NBL season (28:00)
• Hurdles and highlights faced during his career so far (30:00)

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Listen to our previous interviews with the biggest stars in Australian Basketball, head to Aussiehoopla.com. Check out previous podcasts featuring; Australian Basketball Legends - Luc Longley, Andrew Gaze, Shane Heal, Mark Bradtke, Leroy Loggins, David Andersen, Andrew Vlahov, Phil Smyth, CJ Bruton, Chris Anstey, Brett Maher, John Rillie, Tony Ronaldson, Damian Martin

Current NBL Stars - Bryce Cotton, Chris Goulding, Jack White, Dejan Vasiljevic, Thomas Abercrombie, Daniel Johnson, Jason Cadee, Mitch McCarron, Anthony Drmic, Brad Newley, Kai Sotto, Luke Travers

Our Finest Coaching Minds - Brian Goorjian, Barry Barnes, Joey Wright, Adrian Hurley, Aaron Fearne, Rob Beveridge, Ian Stacker, Shawn Dennis, Dean Vickerman, Trevor Gleeson, Lindsey Gaze, Ken Cole, Will Weaver, Bruce Palmer

NBA Stars Past & Present - Andrew Bogut, Matthew Dellavedova, Stephen Jackson, Randy Livingston, Torrey Craig, Acie Earl, Josh Childress, Reggie Smith, Todd Lichti, Ryan Broekhoff, Doug Overton

The NBL's Greatest Imports - Darryl McDonald, Ricky Grace, Derek Rucker, Leon Trimmingham, Scott Fisher, Lanard Copeland, Mike Mitchell, Darnell Mee, Isaac Burton, Adonis Jordan, Shawn Redhage, Willie Farley, Al Green, Corey "Homicide" Williams, Steve Woodberry, Doug Overton, Kevin Lisch

And the men who run things - Larry Kestelman, Mal Speed, Paul Maley, Vince Crivelli, Jeremy Loeliger, Jeff Van Groningen, Bob Turner, Danny Mills

All that and much more.

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