"He actually rang straight after the game last night from the locker room," Kay's mum, Terrie, said on Sunday. "Just to say, 'Look, I just wanna say thanks for everything. This is just amazing. Love you all, talk to you soon.'"

Terrie could "hear the boys going off in the background".

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Growing up in Tamworth and "dreaming" of competing at the Olympics, to actually standing on the podium at Tokyo 2020.

That is the briefest version of Kay's incredible journey to becoming an Olympic medallist.

He once again started for the Boomers in their 107-93 win over Slovenia in Tokyo on Saturday night.

The triumph, which followed a loss to eventual gold medallists Team USA in the semi-finals, sparked an outpouring of emotion. At four Olympics across four decades, Australia had made the semi-finals, only to miss out on a medal.

When Kay, a 206cm power forward who turned 29 last week, played for Australia at his debut Basketball World Cup in 2019, he excelled and was duly praised.

At his debut Olympics, he again showed that he belongs among elite company - averaging 12.3 points, six rebounds and 2.5 assists for the tournament. In the bronze medal game, he played 30 minutes - scoring six points, pulling down five rebounds and registering four steals.

After Kay's double-double in the Boomers' 97-59 quarter-final defeat of Argentina, Aussie basketball legend Michelle Timms tweeted that he "doesn't understand his legacy yet".

She explained: "From here on in Australian basketball we will be saying 'you need a Nick Kay on your team' or 'that kids [sic] a Nick Kay'."

Terrie said the eldest of her and Paul Kay's three children had "never changed".

"He's always been really grounded," she added. "And he always knows he has a certain job to do. He's not that [person] who goes out and is the flashiest player or anything ... in this tournament he seems to have been recognised for the hard work and the grit."

Terrie recalled how difficult it was saying goodbye to her then 17-year-old son when he left Tamworth to attend boarding school in Sydney. He had decided to try and make basketball his career.

Four years of US college ball followed high school, before he began his NBL career at the now-defunct Townsville Crocodiles. A stint at Illawarra was followed by back-to-back championship seasons at the Wildcats. In both seasons he made the All-NBL First Team.

He's also played for the Southland Sharks and the Wellington Saints in New Zealand.

Hungry to get even better, Kay played last season with Real Betis in Spain. The upcoming season will see him reunite with his Wellington Saints coach, Paul Henare, at the Shimane Susanoo Magic in Japan's B League.

Terrie said her boy "started from scratch and worked hard".

Prior to the Olympics, Kay told the Leader that participating in the Games was "something you dream of as a kid". He added: "To be here now and heading towards Tokyo, I'm super excited".

He also said that post-Games it would be "nice to get home for a few days there and see the fiancee and the family".

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