Basketball Victoria is thrilled to announce that Victorian prospect, Johnny Furphy has officially been drafted to the NBA! With pick number 35 from the San Antonio Spurs, he was immediately traded, with the young Victorian now a member of the Indiana Pacers in the NBA.
This news is incredibly exciting for Johnny, his family, and the Australian public as Johnny gets to take the court with the world’s greatest players on the biggest stage in basketball, whilst also becoming a driving force for Australian Basketball.
Johnny will join an elite list of Victorians to have played in the NBA including:
- Andrew Bogut (2006 No.1 Draft Pick, NBA Champion 2015)
- Ben Simmons (2016 No.1 Draft Pick, 2018 Rookie of the Year, 3x NBA All-Star)
- Matthew Dellavedova (NBA Champion 2016)
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Josh Giddey (NBA All-Rookie Second Team 2022)
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Plus many more.
Born and raised in Melbourne, Australia, Johnny played in many different Victorian Basketball leagues and initiatives, playing for various associations in the Victorian Junior Basketball League and Big V, also competing in Basketball Victoria organised school competitions, Champions Cup and the Victorian College Championships.
Johnny took part in the State Development Program that Basketball Victoria offers thanks to the funding of the Victorian Government. His success demonstrates the incredible work the High-Performance Team is doing as part of the State Development Program.
His talent and dedication led him to being a part of the 2023 U20 Victorian State team and the Basketball Australia Centre of Excellence (CoE) at the Australian Institute of Sport, where he honed his skills before committing to play college basketball in the United States for the University of Kansas.
This is an incredible achievement for Johnny and we wish him the best of luck for this new and exciting chapter of his life.
