Adelaide star Jason Cadee opens up on horrific crash, life-changing moments and NBL career ahead of historic game
At just 19, it should’ve been the end for Jason Cadee, who was crushed in a horrific accident with a semi-trailer. To reach 400 NBL games is, in itself, a miracle — but it barely scratches the surface, he explains to MICHAEL RANDALL.
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Jason Cadee was on top of the basketball world in 2010, recruited by a trio of NBL teams, US colleges and going head-to-head with a young Kyrie Irving.
But, ploughed into by a semi-trailer on the M7 and trapped in his car for 90 minutes, then-19-year-old Cadee should have been dead.
Cadee’s pelvis was crushed in the July 2010 accident. Major surgery left him with a massive 14cm screw burrowed into the right side of his pelvis and a plate with six pins holding it all together.
People who saw the accident thought he was dead and ‘fatality’ was mentioned among local truckies.
His phone, flung from the car on impact, was filled with messages and missed calls from mates and family members hoping, praying that Cadee was alive.
Now 33 and set to suit up on Sunday for NBL game number 400, the Adelaide 36er reflects on his remarkable road to a milestone that is nothing short of a miracle.
CHEATED DEATH: MOMENT IT ALL REALLY HIT HOME
Just a teen, Cadee, like most kids his age, thought he was invincible.
“Superman”, dad Robbie, an Olympian, says.
He’d just signed with Gold Coast Blaze, after deciding against heading to the US for college and turning down offers from his AIS mentor Marty Clark to join Adelaide and hometown Sydney.
Told by doctors he was “lucky” he’d just broken his pelvis, Cadee treated recovery from the horror crash as “a regular injury” and, by December of the same year, he was in a Blaze uniform and ready for action.
In the years to come, Cadee was only occasionally cognisant of his second chance.
It took nearly a decade and the gift of new life — in 2019 he and partner Jasmine Hooper welcomed first child Louis — for the magnitude of what he’d survived to hit home.
“I was very young and naive to it all,” Cadee, who now has three children (Louis, Scarlett and Jude), told Code Sports.
“I probably didn’t really realise the significance of it until I got a bit older.
“Once I had kids, that really was a moment for me, of like, ‘I almost missed this’.
“Yeah, I had moments of basketball ... but, when … your kids come along, it was a moment for me, of like, ‘I almost didn’t get to experience this’.
“I rewind to 18 … It’s almost all gone, and it’s not one of those things where it’s like, ‘yeah, almost died’. It’s like, ‘no, I probably should have’.”
EXCRUCIATING PAIN AFTER SHOCK SAVE
On his way back from a mate’s place in Bella Vista, near Castle Hill, Cadee was pushed off one of Sydney’s busiest roads, spun out and came to rest across the laneway.
He looked to his right and saw 20-odd tons of steel careening towards him.
“I remember watching (the truck driver) trying to move, but there was a barricade behind me, (so) unfortunately, where I was, he couldn’t do anything and collected me,” he said.
“Out of shock, I passed out, which they later told me they think probably saved my life, because I (wasn’t) bracing for it (the impact).
“There was glass everywhere, there was blood everywhere and, to this day, I still don’t know where the blood came from, because I had not a scratch on me, which was crazy.
“I just wanted to be cut out because I was so tightly stuck.
“I thought I was fine.”
But he wasn’t.
“When they moved me to get on the (spine) board, it felt like the inside of my body, basically all the bones were just together. I remember that feeling because it was excruciating.”
CHIPPING ‘AUSSIE’ KYRIE
In April of 2010, Cadee, a Boomer at 17 and one of the country’s finest young prospects, found himself on a World Select Team at the prestigious Nike Hoops Summit — coached by well-travelled Aussie mentor Rob Beveridge.
The only Australian on the team, Cadee had 7 points, 3 rebounds and 3 dimes in 18 minutes, alongside Melbourne United’s big Kiwi Rob Loe, and future NBAers including Enes Kanter — now Freedom — Tristan Thompson and Nikola Mirotic.
On the opposing USA Junior National Select team among nine soon-to-be NBA players? An Australian-born all-time great who recently expressed interest in playing for the Boomers.
“I actually played OK. After the game, Kyrie Irving walks up to me, goes, ‘I’m from Australia’,” Cadee recalls.
“I said, ‘no, you’re not’. He goes, ‘I am … I was born there, I lived there’.
“I said, ‘well, you’re wearing the wrong jersey’.”
LEANING ON DAD IN TOUGH TIMES
When Robbie sent his boy off to the Australian Institute of Sport, he told him one thing: “mate, you’re in good hands here with the people you’ve got around you to take you to the next level and I’m always there to give you advice but it won’t be me ringing you, it will be you ringing me, because you’ve got to now find your way.”
From the Blaze, down to Adelaide, to Sydney, up to Brisbane and now back at the 36ers, that’s remained constant.
In recent years, though, amid coach sackings, off-court battles and player revolts, dad’s had to go back on that.
“The last few years have been very difficult,” Robbie said.
“Our phone calls became more regular and, from a distance watching him on TV, I could see from his body language, so I picked up the phone more because I felt he was in a world of pain with what was going on.
“(In Brisbane) the players were leaning on him a lot, which was a natural thing because they trusted him and there was a disconnect with management and coaching.
“Last year, the Adelaide situation was very rough.
“Jason loves the game, he genuinely cares about people and he’s a purist so, when things are not working the way they should, it affects him.”
At the Bullets, Jason played under three different coaches in the first few months of the 2022-23 season, moved to Adelaide and watched as CJ Bruton was sacked as head coach and he was benched. He worked his way back into the rotation, finished the season well, then Bruton’s replacement Scott Ninnis was marched before a ball had been bounced on NBL25.
“(In Brisbane) I don’t think people realised what Drej (coach Andrej Lemanis) had built with little resources. When he left, I think it really shone out how many things weren’t really in place, and how much he was holding (the club) together on the floor and off,” Cadee said.
“The start of the season (in Adelaide) was shocking. I wasn’t expecting it. I was hurt for the person, because I really liked Scotty.
“I remember the moment it happened, the first person I went over and rang was dad and said, ‘the hell is going on here?’ Dad said, ‘if they’re making this decision now, there must be a reason to it, and they must see another value. It sucks for Scotty, but just see how it plays out’.”
GET THROUGH 400, THEN A CHAMPIONSHIP?
Cadee, as always, listened to dad’s advice, and it quickly became apparent Ninnis’ replacement American Mike Wells was one of the best coaches he’d played under in years.
“He gets it,” Cadee said.
“The day Scotty was sacked, we trained about 30 minutes later.
“I’m processing everything from the playing group to what he’s going through … I can see it all in my head as it’s unfolding. When Mike started speaking, I quickly realised, ‘hang on a second, I don’t actually have to worry about other things here, because he’s got it’.
“The way he handled it showed who he is and what he’s about.
“For me, this is probably my first year in three years where I’ve got to tie my shoes on and worry about just playing basketball.”
Cadee will get through 400 — hopefully with a win over Tasmania that will take the 36ers to 4-3 on the season — amid an optimism not present in the City of Churches in years, leaving him dreaming of the title that has, so far, eluded him.
“There’s a bunch that were hoping we sucked. There’s a bunch that were probably hoping we were good. And there’s a bunch in the middle that played both sides,” Cadee said of the revamped Sixers.
“My mindset’s always been winning, It hasn’t worked out in the NBL.
“This year, I’ve got a role to play and that excites me, just knowing that I can help KD and he’s been really receptive to (Cadee’s teaching) asking me questions, and he wants to learn.
“With DJ (Vasiljevic), we’ve got a little three-guard rotation, and you throw in Nick (Marshall) and Sunday (Dech) and Lat (Mayen).
“Trying to help win a title, that’s all I’ve wanted to do and that hasn’t changed.”
‘CHEEKY BASTARD’ WHO BECAME A LEADER
Recently installed South East Melbourne interim coach Sam Mackinnon first met kid Cadee over two decades ago when the NBL great was playing for the Razorbacks.
Back then, he was “the boss’ son” who was a “cheeky bastard” and wasn’t afraid to give a bit of lip to the players.
Fast forward to Brisbane and Mackinnon got to know the man Cadee.
“He’s one of those people in basketball, I don’t think anyone would say a bad word about,” Mackinnon said.
“He genuinely cares for everyone.
“He’s got a lot of experience, he grew up around professional athletes, so he feels really comfortable.
“His basketball IQ is so high, he sees plays ahead of time, but what sets him apart is his leadership. He’s elite.”
HE HAD HOPS
Mackinnon said Cadee was a sneaky athlete before the accident — “Jason was dunking on people when he was a kid”.
That changed — “I don’t think I’ve seen him dunk in a game” — but the attention to detail on his body has made Cadee incredibly resilient.
Cadee’s only missed six total games throughout his 14-year pro career — a couple of those right at the start when one of the screws in his pelvis broke and caused internal bleeding.
Cadee reckons he’s got one dunk in an NBL game — early on with the Blaze when he looked off best mate Anthony Petrie.
“(I told Adelaide import) Kendric Davis I used to be able to windmill (dunk),” Cadee laughs.
“He goes, ‘No’ … (I said) ‘yes, I’ve got a video’.”
RARE COMPANY
Cadee becomes just the fifth player in the 40-minute era to reach the 400-game milestone.
His greatest weapon across his career has been the three-ball — and he’s one of the deadliest marksmen of the era, with an aesthetically pleasing shooting form that leaves you feeling surprised when it doesn’t go in.
His 605 treys sits behind only all-time great shooters Chris Goulding, Bryce Cotton and Cam Gliddon.
But he admits he’s been his own toughest critic — although he’s recently worked on being kinder to himself.
“I’m not 6’9” and some big, tall guy, getting around, I’m a guard at predominantly import guard spot,” he said.
“I’ve been able to be a part of the Boomers program. I grew up wanting to be an NBL player, so, to tick off 400, it’ll probably be a later thing that you really reflect on.”
“Sunday (was) … like, ‘bro, 400 is almost unheard of, this day and age. Not many people will get to that number’.
“I don’t think about it like that, but when I sit there and look at the guys like a Chris Goulding, who I started my career with, who’s still playing, a Todd Blanchfield, who I did my first ever Emus camp with, he was my roommate. Jesse Wagstaff.
“I think (Shaun) Brucey’s is the only guy that maybe is my age group who’s still playing.
“I feel like it’s, I guess, a pretty cool achievement.”
A NATURAL PROGRESSION
Retirement’s not on the cards any time soon but Cadee’s begun thinking about life after playing, dipping his toe in the business world.
But he need not worry too much — many in the know believe he’s a coach-in-waiting, Lemanis and Wells among them.
“Could I be a head coach? I think so. You don’t know until you start doing that thing, but it is something that excites me,” Cadee said.
Cadee’s been on the end of a few coach sprays — most-recently from Wells who was caught on camera in a rage — but he admits that’s an area he’ll have to work on.
“I have thought about that, it’d be interesting,” Cadee laughs when asked how he’d go ripping into his playing group.
“The one thing Drej always said to me about being a leader (was) you don’t have to be something you’re not.
“You can be a leader and not be the guy that’s always the rah, rah, negative, negative.
“If it’s not natural to you, it’s a dangerous path to go down, because players catch onto bullshit really fast.
“I have learnt through my playing career things that I would do and wouldn’t do with coaching.
“So the spray you all saw Mike Wells give to everyone is needed at times in professional environments because you have a bunch of grown-ass men trying to make money, trying to feed families, trying to win basketball games, trying to better their careers.
“Sometimes, they need to hear the boss tell them all to shut up and run or whatever It may be.”
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