‘Basketbrawl’ pales in comparison to the night Daniel Kickert feared for his life

THE wild scenes in the Philippines sent shockwaves around the world, but for Daniel Kickert the infamous “basketbrawl” pales in comparison to the night he escaped from a real-life war zone.

IF you thought the infamous basketbrawl in the Philippines was the most chilling incident in the life of Daniel Kickert, think again.

The Australian Boomers might have huddled in their Manila dressing room concerned for their safety last month, but Kickert will never forget the night he escaped from a real-life war zone.

Kickert was playing in the Ukraine when pro-Russian unrest erupted in 2014 and was frozen by terror when told he had one chance to flee the country as the Russian military reached the border just an hour away.

Just days after he was ultimately smuggled out in the dead of night to safety, the airport he flew out of was blown up and completely obliterated.

Daniel Kickert says his experience in the Ukraine helped put the “basketbrawl” in perspective.

Six months later, Malaysian Airlines Flight 17 was shot down not far from where he had been living in Donetsk.

In comparison, being stormed by the Filipino team and their relatives in a flurry of elbows, punches, karate kicks and air-born chairs seems more like a playground spat.

Kickert copped a five-match international suspension for the ugly elbow that set-off the Mayhem in Manila and regrets the role he played in.

EVACUATION: How Boomers escaped Philippines nightmare

But amid the chaos and the epic fallout, Kickert says his extraordinary life experiences have helped him maintain a healthy sense of perspective.

“The media like to portray it how they want to portray it. At the end of the day if it happened in rugby we’re not talking about it, are we? It’s one of those things you’ve got to put in perspective,” Kickert told The Daily Telegraph.

“(Escaping the Ukraine) is the most serious thing I’ve been a part of. Everything else is pretty vanilla in comparison.”

Kings coach Andrew Gaze has been impressed with how Daniel Kickert has handled the fallout from the Basketbrawl. Picture: Brett Costello

To this day, the images of Kickert’s near-death experience still plays vividly in his head.

“We (the import players) got called into the office and they basically said, ‘you guys have to get out of here now, this is the last opportunity,’” said Kickert.

“They were nervous the town was going to get overthrown and the only international airport was about 45 minutes’ drive from where we were.

“You’re just shitting yourself. You can’t sleep at night because all this is unfolding. Your family is freaking out.

“We had a convoy of cars leave at like 5am the next morning. Obviously you’re just thinking worst-case scenario: What if there’s a roadblock here? Because roadblocks had started.

“We got to the airport so early we had to sit and wait at the terminal before we could go through and I remember being the last guy sitting there not checked in, and just watching the clock with my mind playing out all these scenarios.

“That day pro-Russian forces overthrew the Government building in Donetsk and within a week the airport was shut down and there’s a photo of it somewhere and it’s utterly destroyed. Bombed. Gone.

Daniel Kickert at Kings training. Picture: Getty

“It was that close. It’s crazy.”

Kings coach Andrew Gaze has been impressed by Kickert’s response to the Filipino fracas.

“Daniel has been great. He’s had to deal with a lot over the last couple of weeks and there’s a lot of regret for what took place,” said Gaze.

“He’s very humbled by the situation. He accepts his punishment and he moves on.

“This is traumatic and something that’s not ideal and you wish you could turn back time and not have to go through it. But you’ve always got to keep perspective and he’s handled it really well.

“Most importantly for me, hopefully he gets that chance to play for Australia again.”

Originally published as ‘Basketbrawl’ pales in comparison to the night Daniel Kickert feared for his life