Taran Armstrong on his journey to the NBA

Taran Armstrong always knew he was destined to join Australia’s NBA production line - and his mum held onto the evidence. The new Golden State Warrior reveals how NBA draft disappointment fuelled his dramatic improvement.

Taran Armstrong has signed an NBA deal. (Photo by Simon Sturzaker/Getty Images)

Golden State Warriors-bound Aussie point guard Taran Armstrong doesn’t specifically remember writing the words ‘Road to the NBA: I can, just work’ but he’s sure glad mum Melanie held onto his little mission statement for all these years.

Back then, the Burnie boy was just a kid with a dream, sparked following dad Ben around Tasmanian basketball courts as he built a rep as a local legend in the SEABL and NWBU competitions.

Today, that dream is a reality.

The 23-year-old has inked a two-way contract with Golden State, which means he will have the opportunity to split time with the Warriors and their G League affiliate Santa Cruz for the rest of the NBA season.

“To be honest, I don’t even really remember doing it,” Armstrong said, when asked about the drawing his mum dusted off from his childhood memorabilia to celebrate the special moment.

You CAN and you DID! My lil underdog from DOWN UNDER, Down Under just made it ALL the way to the NBA! @taranarmstrong1pic.twitter.com/XrsiaYZQwF

— Melanie Armstrong (@Melanie51737152) February 23, 2025

“Obviously it was a massive dream to make it to the NBA and I’m sure I did quite a few things like that growing up.

“It was pretty cool she was able to hang on to one of the weird little motivational things that I drew.”

The schoolboy memento gives an early indication of the driven man Armstrong has become.

Passed over in last year’s NBA draft, Armstrong didn’t get bitter, he got better.

He took the feedback from workouts with nearly a dozen NBA clubs and honed his game, body and, most importantly, mind, to force his way into another opportunity off the back of a stunning individual season in Cairns.

Taran Armstrong during his time with Burnie.

Taran Armstrong. Photo: Emily Barker/Getty Images.

Adding muscle to his towering 196cm frame, Armstrong took a big leap in almost every facet, upping his scoring from the 7.7 of his rookie season to 17.1, lifting his assists from 2.7 to 4.7 and, most notably, improving his shooting, the three ball jumping from 25.7 per cent on 1.5 attempts to a voluminous 35.1 per cent on 5.1 tries.

“I always wanted to get drafted and then I was in the draft last year but didn’t get picked up,” he said.

“So I had to get back to work and keep improving.”

Armstrong said experience, understanding and perspective have shaped a new philosophy that has unlocked his mental game.

“I really just made a leap in the mental side of the game and that’s been the difference maker,” he said.

“I work really hard and my shooting, in particular, was an area of feedback that I had to improve on.

“But you’ve got to be in the right space mentally to be able to make progress and improve and I definitely made a jump in that space.”

The Armstrong of today, who is set to rub shoulders with the likes of NBA royalty in Steph Curry and Jimmy Butler, is a far cry from the kid who struggled with self-imposed pressure ever since he emerged as a potential NBA talent at Cal Baptist University.

“I think, for sure, it was a confidence thing and a little bit of anxiety too, especially when you’re being evaluated,” Armstrong said.

“When I was a Freshman in college, I was starting to get some NBA eyes on me.

“The magnitude of that and how it had just been a dream for so long and now I’ve got people coming to watch me play games and practice — I just felt like every shot I made or missed was just, you know, the biggest deal in the world.”

Taran Armstrong is one of the best passers in US college basketball. Photo courtesy of CBU Athletics.

Armstrong will board a plane for San Francisco in the next few days — a long, long way from the port city of Burnie, the hometown where he was able to share the life-changing news with Ben and the rest of his family.

“It did mean extra being there with him, seeing his dream being achieved,” dad Ben Armstrong said.

“We’re pretty close, I speak to him most days. It’s not just basketball, we’re a tight family anyway.”

Dad did caution the excitement with a level-head — “It’s just the start. He needs to go now and make the most of this opportunity” — but couldn’t hide his joy at knowing his son would link up with one of the NBA’s best organisations.

“It’s Steph Curry, one of the greatest shooters ever in the game,” Ben said of Taran’s opportunity to work alongside four-time NBA champion Curry.

“Taran is completely humbled to be in their presence.

“But he’s going to go and do what’s required of him to help that franchise be better, whatever that looks like.

“If he could choose a situation which was ideal, this would be it.

“We’ve admired Golden State for a lot of years. Just the fact he gets to be part of that organisation now is still surreal.”

Armstrong’s 2023 call to sign with Cairns to play in the NBL after two years at CBU has been justified.

“I had a big decision to either go play college again or go pro and come back to Australia and that was really tough,” he said.

“I almost went back to college but I’m glad I made the decision I did and came to the Taipans.

“The NBL’s a great league to play in, I think it’s super-translatable to the NBA, the style of play, the pace, how it is quite free flowing and read-and-react-type basketball, which is a lot of the NBA style.

“The preparation of playing against professional men, having to lead an inexperienced group, playing games that really, really matter and being back in my home country, it was a great experience.”

Originally published as Taran Armstrong on his journey to the NBA