Why basketball star won’t play with his kids

A Gold Coast basketball family no longer plays together and aren’t shy when it comes to ranking their favourite players.

THERE comes a time when children outgrow their parents and according to former basketball star Brendan Le Gassick it’s already happened.

The 47-year-old has given up shooting hoops with his kids Preston, 15, and Paige, 13, claiming they beat him.

“They’ve started showing me up. They’re too good for me, so I stopped playing altogether,” he said.

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Paige, though, said her ­father still had it.

Preston Le Gassick playing for TSS (The Southport School) in the Opens Basketball team in 2018. Photo: supplied

“Dad’s still pretty good at his threes when he gets on a roll,” she said.

Le Gassick started his basketball career in the Gold Coast juniors after his family moved from Melbourne when he was eight.

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From there he attended the Australian Institute of Sport in 1989-1990 before joining the Gold Coast Rollers NBL team in 1991 and moving to the Townsville Suns for the 1994 season.

He gave up basketball in 2000 but that hasn’t stopped his kids from taking it up.

Paige Le Gassick playing in Shepparton, Victoria (Oct 2018)

They’ve both followed in their dad’s successful footsteps with Preston this year being selected for the state performance program for the best 30 kids in under-18s.

Paige this year was part of the first Gold Coast team to claim gold at the nationals championships.

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Preston, who started basketball at five, said he’s never thought of playing anything else and is happy to have his dad give him pointers.

Preston Le Gassick winning “Blaze NBL Rookie of the Year” competition in 2010 - Preston was 7 years old. Photo: supplied

“He’s always coached me and done stuff to make me better,” he said.

“It helps to have him around because he knows so much about basketball.”

Preston, whose dream is to play in the NBA, was destined for success from a young age after winning a skills test for the Gold Coast Blaze at the Gold Coast Show when he was eight.

“I won a package where I ran on with the team one time and got seats for the whole year. It was a good award to win,” he said.

Preston Le Gassick, Paige Le Gassick, Brendan Le Gassick in Shepparton, Victoria (Oct 2018) - after Paige Le Gassick’s team won the “Australian U14 Club Championships”.Photo: supplied

While all three support different NBL teams – Melbourne United (dad), Sydney (Preston) and Perth (Paige) – Le Gassick said the living room became a commentary box when watching their favourite players.

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“We sort of more individually compare the players and we’ve got certain payers we like to watch and like to see who comes out on top out of those players,” he said.

“Probably not so much rival teams – more individual match-ups.”

The family all enjoy the sport, not just for the game but also the friendships they have formed along the way, which Le Gassick, now director of basketball at The Southport School, said was an important part of it.

“Sport over the years has been really good about teaching different life situations and you can get valuable friendships. I’ve still got friends from over 20 years ago that I still catch up with.”