Boomers star Nick Kay loving parenthood

The birth of Logan Trevor in Perth on July 31 has provided Kay and his wife, Emily, with their first child. It also provided the Tamworth-raised basketball star with a reality check.

He said "everything else kind of disappears as soon as you hold your baby for the first time".

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"All the worries about, 'Am I gonna make the team? What's gonna happen? Did I shoot the ball well today? kind of vanished," he said. "And you just start caring about this one little human being that's your responsibility.

"But then you get out on the court, and you're like, 'You know what? I've gotta do the best I can. Gotta make him [Logan ] and my wife proud, and kind of be a good role model for them."

And that's what the 31-year-old good guy of Australian sport is doing right now in the "Boomers vs The World" tournament in Melbourne, ahead of the FIBA Basketball World Cup. Australia opens their World Cup campaign against Finland in Okinawa on August 25.

One more player will be cut from the Boomers' World Cup squad. But Kay - who has captained the beloved national side and was a standout in their bronze medal run at the Tokyo Olympics - is expected to survive.

The strongly built, 206cm power forward-cum-centre, an integral member of Shimane Susanoo Magic in Japan's B1 League the past two seasons, has been joined in Melbourne by his wife and son and other family members including his Tamworth-based parents, Terrie and Paul.

Kay said his parents "were tremendous role models".

"And I really wanna base my parenting style on the way they raised me. So, I'm very fortunate having Mum and Dad to raise me. And I hope that I'm able to give Logan the same style of life."

Kay has enjoyed a storybook romance with Emily, whom he met through basketball when he relocated to Perth to play for the Wildcats. They married at the city's picturesque Swan Valley in July last year.

Kay has said that his wife has an "unreal" personality and a big heart. "It's gonna sound as corny as hell, but that's the whole reason I fell in love with her."

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