Maxwell Ronaldo McKenzie Darling (born 30 September 2000) is a Vincentian-New Zealand 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 for the

Canterbury Rams The Canterbury Rams are a New Zealand professional men's basketball team based in Christchurch. The Rams compete in the National Basketball League (NBL) and play their home games at Cowles Stadium. For sponsorship reasons, they are known as Th ...

of the New Zealand National Basketball League (NZNBL). He is also contracted 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 ...

of the Australian National Basketball League (NBL).

Early life

Darling was born in

Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, sometimes known simply as Saint Vincent or SVG, is an island country in the eastern Caribbean. It is located in the southeast Windward Islands of the Lesser Antilles, which lie in the West Indies, at the south ...

. He spent most of his childhood in New Zealand. Darling learnt how to dunk a basketball at the age of 12. He attended high school at Christ's College in

Christchurch Christchurch (; ) is the largest city in the South Island and the List of cities in New Zealand, second-largest city by urban area population in New Zealand. Christchurch has an urban population of , and a metropolitan population of over hal ...

and

Nelson College Nelson College is the oldest state secondary school in New Zealand, a feat achieved in part thanks to its original inception as a private school. It is an all-boys school in the City of Nelson that teaches from years 9 to 13. In addition, it r ...

Nelson Nelson may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Nelson'' (1918 film), a historical film directed by Maurice Elvey * ''Nelson'' (1926 film), a historical film directed by Walter Summers * ''Nelson'' (opera), an opera by Lennox Berkeley to a lib ...

. Darling participated in the Mainland Eagles Basketball Academy in Christchurch where he first caught the attention of the

of the New Zealand National Basketball League (NZNBL).

Professional career

Darling played two games for the Canterbury Rams of the NZNBL in 2017 when he was sixteen-years-old. He returned to the Rams for the 2018 season when he averaged 9.3 points and 5.8 rebounds per game and earned the NZNBL Youth Player of the Year Award. On 18 August 2018, Darling signed with Vrijednosnice Osijek of the Croatian Premijer liga. He became the first New Zealand teenage basketball player to sign in Europe who did not have a European passport. Darling averaged 10.2 points and 5.4 rebounds during the 2019–20 season before it was ended early due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. On 5 August 2020, Darling signed with the

Illawarra Hawks The Illawarra Hawks (formerly the Wollongong Hawks and The Hawks) are an Australian professional basketball team based in Wollongong, New South Wales. The Illawarra Hawks compete in the National Basketball League (NBL) and play their home game ...

of the Australian National Basketball League (NBL) on a three-year deal. He appeared in 17 games and averaged five minutes per game. On 19 July 2021, Darling and the Hawks mutually agreed to part ways. Darling returned to the Rams for the 2021 NZNBL season. He played for Athletic Constanța of the Romanian Liga Națională during the 2021–22 season. Darling again returned to the Rams for the 2022 NZNBL season. He won a NZNBL championship with the Rams during the 2023 NZNBL season and averaged 12.9 points and 5.4 rebounds per game. On 26 September 2023, Darling signed with the

of the NBL as a development player. He only appeared in one game for the Breakers during the

2023–24 NBL season The 2023–24 NBL season was the 46th season of the National Basketball League since its establishment in 1979. A total of ten teams contested in the 2023–24 season. Australian broadcast rights to the season are held by ESPN in the third seas ...

. Darling returned to the Rams for the 2024 NZNBL season, winning a second consecutive championship. On 7 August 2024, Darling was elevated to a full roster spot by the Breakers and signed a new two-year contract with a third-year option. On 19 October 2024, he scored 15 points in an 89–85 win over the

Perth Wildcats The Perth Wildcats are an Australian professional basketball team based in Perth, Western Australia. The Wildcats compete in the National Basketball League (Australia), National Basketball League (NBL) and play their home games at Perth Arena, ...

. Darling re-joined the Rams for the

2025 New Zealand NBL season The 2025 NBL season is the 44th season of the National Basketball League. The competition increased to 12 teams in 2025 with the debut of the Indian Panthers, but later decreased to 11 teams in May following the withdrawal of the Panthers. The ...

National team career

In 2018, Darling was invited to participate in training camp for the

New Zealand men's national basketball team 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 ...

in preparation for the

2019 FIBA Basketball World Cup The 2019 FIBA Basketball World Cup was the 18th tournament of the FIBA Basketball World Cup for men's national basketball teams, held from 31 August to 15 September 2019. The tournament was hosted in China and was rescheduled from 2018 to 2019, b ...

. He played for the New Zealand men's national under-19 basketball team at the

2019 FIBA Under-19 Basketball World Cup The 2019 FIBA Under-19 Basketball World Cup (Greek: Παγκόσμιο Κύπελλο Μπάσκετ FIBA Under-19 2019) was the 14th edition of the FIBA Under-19 Basketball World Cup, the biennial international men's youth basketball championshi ...

. Darling was named to the final roster for the New Zealand men's national basketball team at the

2022 FIBA Asia Cup The 2022 FIBA Asia Cup was the 30th edition of the FIBA Asia Cup, the continental basketball championship in Asia. The tournament was organised by FIBA Asia. Originally intended to be the 2021 edition, the tournament was initially scheduled to t ...

, where the team finished in third place. In May 2025, Darling was named in the Tall Blacks squad for a trans-Tasman series against

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

References

External links

Max Darling
at NBL *
Maxwell Darling
at Proballers * {{DEFAULTSORT:Darling, Max 2000 births Living people Canterbury Rams players Forwards (basketball) Illawarra Hawks players KK Vrijednosnice Osijek players New Zealand expatriate basketball people in Romania New Zealand people of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines descent New Zealand men's basketball players New Zealand Breakers players People educated at Christ's College, Christchurch People educated at Nelson College Saint Vincent and the Grenadines men's basketball players 21st-century New Zealand sportsmen CSM Constanța (men's basketball) players