Benny Charles "B. J." Anthony Jr. (born 20 July 1988) is a New Zealand former professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

player who played multiple seasons in both the Australian NBL and New Zealand NBL. He also played in Germany and England, and represented the New Zealand Tall Blacks on multiple occasions.

Professional career

New Zealand NBL

Anthony made his debut in the New Zealand NBL in

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

with the

Harbour Heat The Harbour Heat were a New Zealand basketball team based in Auckland. The Heat competed in the National Basketball League (NBL) and played their home games at North Shore Events Centre. Team history The Harbour Heat, then known as North Shore, ...

. He continued on with the Heat in

2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...

and

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

. After a season with the

Waikato Pistons The Waikato Pistons were a basketball team based in Hamilton, Waikato, New Zealand. The team competed in the National Basketball League (NBL) under different names between 1982 and 2014, with absent years in 1983 and 2012. Team history The Wai ...

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

, Anthony signed with the

Otago Nuggets The Otago Nuggets are a New Zealand professional men's basketball team based in Dunedin. The Nuggets compete in the National Basketball League (NBL) and play their home games at the Edgar Centre. For sponsorship reasons, they are known as the ...

for the 2012 season. However, he missed the entire season due to injury. He returned to the Nuggets for the 2013 season. In

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

, Anthony won a championship as a member of the

Wellington Saints The Wellington Saints are a New Zealand professional men's basketball team based in Wellington. The Saints compete in the National Basketball League (NBL) and play their home games at TSB Bank Arena. For sponsorship reasons, they are known as ...

. He had signed with the

Super City Rangers The Super City Rangers were a New Zealand basketball team based in Auckland. The Rangers competed in the National Basketball League (NBL) and played their home games across multiple venues in Auckland. Team history The Waitakere Rangers debut ...

for the 2015 season, but missed the entire season due to injury. He re-joined the Saints in

2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...

and won his second championship, going on to win his third with the Saints in

2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...

. He played a fourth season with the Saints in

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

, but missed the second half of the season with a broken foot.

Australian NBL

In the 2010–11 season, Anthony made his debut in the Australian NBL as a development player with the

New Zealand Breakers The New Zealand Breakers (also known as the Bank of New Zealand, BNZ Breakers for sponsorship reasons) are a New Zealand professional basketball team based in Auckland. The Breakers are the only non-Australian side currently competing in Austral ...

. He played a second season with the Breakers in 2011–12 as a full-time contracted player. He won two championships in his two seasons with the Breakers. For the 2013–14 season, Anthony played for the

Adelaide 36ers The Adelaide 36ers are an Australian professional men's basketball team in the National Basketball League (NBL). The 36ers are the only team in the league representing the state of South Australia and are based in the state's capital of Adela ...

. He continued on with the 36ers in 2014–15, but missed the second half of the season with an Achilles tendon injury.

Europe

For the 2008–09 and 2009–10 seasons, Anthony played in Germany for Herzoege Wolfenbuettel of the

ProB The ProB is the German basketball league system, third-tier level Sports league, league of professional club basketball in Germany. The league comprises 24 teams, separated into a Northern and a Southern Division. Officially, the ProB is part of ...

. During his first season, he also spent time with SG MTV/BG 93 Wolfenbuttel in the Regionalliga. In January 2013, Anthony returned to Germany and joined BBC Solarto Eagles Magdeburg for the rest of the 2012–13 season. He went on to earn Regionalliga All-Star Five honours.Basketball: Anthony chases redemption
/ref> For the 2015–16 season, Anthony joined the

Plymouth Raiders Plymouth Raiders are a basketball team based in Plymouth, England, currently competing in Division 3 of the National Basketball League (England), National Basketball League. Founded in 1983 through a merger between two local basketball clubs, ...

of the

British Basketball League The British Basketball League (BBL) was a men's professional basketball sports league, league in Great Britain. Since its establishment in 1987 the BBL represented the highest level of basketball competition within the United Kingdom. The orga ...

. He appeared in five games before being released by the club on 7 November 2015 due to poor behaviour off the court.

National team career

Anthony was selected to join the

Tall Blacks The New Zealand men's national basketball team () represents New Zealand in international basketball competitions. The team is governed by Basketball New Zealand. The team's official nickname is the Tall Blacks (). Over their history, New Zeal ...

on 17 August 2009 for the first time as an injury replacement for

Jeremiah Trueman Jeremiah Kloeten Trueman (born 19 May 1987) is a New Zealand former professional basketball player. Early life Trueman was born in New Plymouth and originally grew up in nearby Stratford, New Zealand, Stratford. He joined his parents, first in ...

. He participated in the 2009 FIBA Oceania Championship and the

2010 FIBA World Championship The 2010 FIBA World Championship was the 16th FIBA World Championship, the international basketball world championship contested by the List of men's national basketball teams, men's national teams. The tournament ran from 28 August to 12 Septem ...

Personal

Anthony's father, Benny Sr., is a former player and coach in the New Zealand NBL.Super City Rangers name Jeff Green as coach
/ref> Anthony holds a

British passport The British passport (or UK passport) is a travel document issued by the United Kingdom or other British dependencies and territories to individuals holding any form of British nationality. It grants the bearer international passage in acco ...

thanks to his

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Culture, language and peoples * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England * ''English'', an Amish ter ...

-born mother.

References

External links

Eurobasket.com profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Anthony, B.J. 1988 births Living people Adelaide 36ers players Basketball players from Auckland Harbour Heat players New Zealand expatriate basketball people in Australia New Zealand expatriate basketball people in England New Zealand expatriate basketball people in Germany New Zealand men's basketball players New Zealand Breakers players Otago Nuggets players People educated at Avondale College Plymouth Raiders players Power forwards Waikato Pistons players Wellington Saints players 2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup players 2010 FIBA World Championship players 21st-century New Zealand sportsmen