By TENAJH SWEETING

Tribune Sports Reporter

tsweeting@tribunemedia.net

JARAUN “Kino” Burrows is a staple in the Bahamian basketball community. When he is not playing pro ball overseas or making his contributions as a veteran member of the men’s national basketball team, you can usually find him pouring into younger Bahamian basketball players in his spare time at home.

These days the 39-year-old forward is spending his time at New Providence Basketball Association (NPBA) training camps in preparation for the upcoming 2024-25 season.

He recently spoke with Tribune Sports  about his excitement for his newest basketball endeavour. “During my career, starting from college I have always come home and fully entrenched myself in the local basketball scene with the rest of my friends. Whether that be ‘Peace on Da Streets’, Summer of Thunder, I always made sure I took my time to give back to camps or clinics and to make appearances and make a donation in any way that I can give back.

“I think this is just another opportunity to come home and use my platform, while I am still capable of playing at a high level, to bring something to the league. 

“Also, to use my network that I have developed over the past few years in America and Europe to see what kind of assistance we can bring to the other talented players starting from division two to the division one level,” he said. 

The 6-foot-8 Bahamian forward has an extensive résumé in basketball over the course of his 20-year career. He has competed with the Bahamas senior men’s national basketball team since 2007 with his most recent stint being at the 2024 FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament this summer in Valencia, Spain. He has averaged six points per game (ppg), 3.6 boards and 1.0 assists in 11 FIBA tournament appearances at the senior level.

Prior to the Olympic qualifying campaign, Burrows played with the Andrezieux Boutheon Loire Sud Basket in the French NM1 league during the 2023-24 season.

He played in 25 games and turned in 8.8 ppg, 3.1 rebounds and 1.9 assists while shooting 58.5 per cent on twos and 47.4 per cent on threes.

Despite making plans to retire twice in his career, Burrows insists this is not the end of the road but just a pause for the time being.

“I wouldn’t say that I am retired because I already retired twice in the past and the good Lord keeps rebuilding me back stronger to compete at a high level. I still feel like I am capable. 

“Although I am 39-years-old now, I played a full 10-month season last year and I played the full summer. 

“In a 20-year career you miss out on a lot so for me I just wanted to take a little pause after the good Olympic run and just stay home for a little while with family, loved ones and friends. Also, I thought it would be a good time to explore options as I spoke to Ricardo, some of the coaches in the NPBA and visited some of the training camps,” he said.

According to NPBA President Ricardo Smith, it is believed that “Kino”’will be joining the Sand Dollar High Flyers roster for next season.

The High Flyers came up short in their bid to make the NPBA Finals last season. Despite having a strong season, they were eliminated 3-1 in the best-of-five semifinals by the reigning champions Discount Distributors Liquors Rockets.

The veteran Bahamian forward is expecting his impact to bring more eyes and fans to the league. 

“It is an impact that I hope will bring eyes on the league and bodies in the stands. That’s where it starts. Ricardo has been expressing to me future thoughts of the ultimate goal is to have a semi-pro league in Nassau with an ecosystem of local basketball on television and guys under contract and just creating the sports business ecosystem between clubs, the league, corporate and the government to really take Bahamas ball to the next level,” he said.

The NPBA season is expected to start in November. Officials will release an official date for the season opener in upcoming weeks.