Jarrod Daniel Kenny (born 17 September 1985) is a New Zealand

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 last played for the Hawke's Bay Hawks of the New Zealand National Basketball League (NZNBL). He won two championships in the Australian NBL with the Perth Wildcats in 2016 and 2017 and has represented the New Zealand Tall Blacks multiple times.

Early life

Kenny was born in

Auckland Auckland ( ; ) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. It has an urban population of about It is located in the greater Auckland Region, the area governed by Auckland Council, which includes outlying rural areas and ...

, New Zealand. He attended Westlake Boys High School.

Professional career

New Zealand NBL

Kenny made his debut in the New Zealand NBL for the Harbour Heat in

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

, playing a handful of games at the end of the season. He played every game and started all but two for the Heat in

2005 2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...

, subsequently earning the New Zealand NBL Young Player of the Year Award. He played for the Heat until

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 ...

. Kenny joined the Hawke's Bay Hawks 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 played the next seven seasons with the team. After a season with the

Nelson Giants The Nelson Giants are a New Zealand professional men's basketball team based in Nelson, New Zealand, Nelson. The Giants compete in the National Basketball League (New Zealand), National Basketball League (NBL) and play their home games at the T ...

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 ...

, Kenny returned to the Hawks for the 2017 season. On 1 April 2017, he recorded 22 points and 15 assists in the Hawks' 102–91 loss to 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 ...

. Kenny continued on with the Hawks 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 ...

and

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

. In June 2020, Kenny was acquired by the Otago Nuggets for the 2020 season. In his 19th season in the league, he won his first championship and earned co- Defensive Player of the Year honours alongside Izayah Le'afa. Kenny returned to the Hawks in

2021 Like the year 2020, 2021 was also heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the emergence of multiple Variants of SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 variants. The major global rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, which began at the end of 2020, continued ...

and continued on in

2022 The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...

2023 Catastrophic natural disasters in 2023 included the Lists of 21st-century earthquakes, 5th-deadliest earthquake of the 21st century 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquakes, striking Turkey and Syria, leaving up to 62,000 people dead; Cyclone Freddy ...

and

2024 The year saw the list of ongoing armed conflicts, continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Myanmar civil war (2021–present), Myanmar civil war, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudane ...

Australian NBL and Germany

After being part of 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 ...

squad during the 2013–14 NBL season, Kenny had a short stint with Licher BasketBären during the 2014–15 German

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 ...

season. On 1 September 2015, Kenny signed with the Perth Wildcats for the 2015–16 NBL season. He saw plenty of court time in his rookie season, particularly during the first half of the year with Damian Martin injured. He helped the Wildcats win the NBL championship. On 11 May 2016, Kenny re-signed with the Wildcats on a three-year deal. He missed time early in the 2016–17 NBL season with a groin strain. Despite his minutes decreasing, Kenny remained a crucial figure for the Wildcats as he helped the team win back-to-back championships. In January of the 2017–18 season, Kenny began playing in career-best form. His scoring improved by nearly six points per game, while his percentage from beyond the arc spiked by almost 30 per cent.Jarrod Kenny in career-high form
/ref> On 22 April 2018, the Wildcats parted ways with Kenny after opting not to take the club option on his contract. On 26 April 2018, Kenny signed with the

Cairns Taipans The Cairns Taipans are an Australian professional basketball team based in Cairns, Queensland. The Taipans compete in the National Basketball League (NBL) and play their home games at the Cairns Convention Centre, known colloquially as "The S ...

. He played the next four seasons with the Taipans.

National team career

In July 2009, Kenny was named in his first New Zealand Tall Blacks squad. He made his debut at the 2009 FIBA Oceania Championship. Kenny's next stints with the Tall Blacks were at the 2011 FIBA Oceania Championship,Jarrod Kenny – 2011 FIBA Oceania Championship
/ref> 2012 FIBA World Olympic Qualifying Tournament,

2013 FIBA Oceania Championship The 2013 FIBA Oceania Championship for Men was the 21st edition of the FIBA Oceania Championship. The tournament featured a two-game series between Australia men's national basketball team, Australia and New Zealand national basketball team, New Z ...

, 2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup, and 2015 FIBA Oceania Championship. He was ruled out of the Tall Blacks' 2016 Olympic campaign due to injury. Kenny's final stints with the Tall Blacks came at the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019 Asian Qualifiers and the FIBA Asia Cup 2021 Qualifiers.

Personal life

Kenny is the son of Danny and Liz Kenny. His fiancé, Ailbhe Madden, is Irish. Kenny graduated from

Auckland University of Technology Auckland University of Technology ( AUT; ) is a university in New Zealand, formed on 1 January 2000 when a former technical college (originally established in 1895) was granted university status. AUT is New Zealand's third largest university i ...

in 2009 with a physiotherapy degree. In November 2022, Kenny was appointed general manager of the Hawke's Bay Hawks.

References

External links

Perth Wildcats player profileFIBA.com profile"Leading from the point"
at nbl.com.au
"Tall Blacks guard Jarrod Kenny jumps at chance to play in revamped New Zealand NBL"
at stuff.co.nz
"Persistence pays off for Jarrod Kenny as he secures new Cairns deal to go with NBL title"
at stuff.co.nz
"Back Chat: Jarrod Kenny on 20 years of NBL hoops, guarding the greats and what's next"
at stuff.co.nz {{DEFAULTSORT:Kenny, Jarrod 1985 births Living people Basketball players at the 2018 Commonwealth Games Basketball players from Auckland Cairns Taipans players Commonwealth Games bronze medallists for New Zealand Commonwealth Games bronze medallists in basketball Harbour Heat players Hawke's Bay Hawks players Nelson Giants players New Zealand expatriate basketball people in Australia New Zealand expatriate basketball people in Germany New Zealand men's basketball players Otago Nuggets players Perth Wildcats players Point guards 2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup players 2019 FIBA Basketball World Cup players Medallists at the 2018 Commonwealth Games 21st-century New Zealand sportsmen