Heritage Round | Centrals family connection drives Sapwells

While Koen Sapwell's professional career is going as well as he hoped even if it's not in the NBL, it's coming home to Central Districts Lions in NBL1 Central to share it with his brother Kalani and dad Rupert that continues to mean everything to him.

Sapwell understandably grew up in Adelaide dreaming of following in his dad's footsteps who had a storied NBL career where he amassed 359 games highlighted by his stint with the Adelaide 36ers where he was part of championship triumphs in 1998, 1999 and 2002.

Fast forward to today and while Koen might not have quite cemented himself in the NBL too despite a season each at the South East Melbourne Phoenix and Brisbane Bullets, he couldn’t be happier with how his career is progressing.

After playing in NBL23 for the Bullets and then a standout NBL1 North season at the Southern Districts Spartans, Koen spent two seasons playing in Germany with the Dresden Titans and then this past season he played in Finland for KTP Basket Kotka.

But in between, there's nothing he enjoys more than returning home to play with Central Districts where his younger brother Kalani is his point guard and captain, and his father Rupert is his coach.

Getting to come home and spend time at home with his family and now with partner Elin Gustavsson along for the ride too, playing basketball year-round around the world and getting to come home still is everything he could have hoped for.

And as much as Central Districts feels like home on a basketball front for Koen given it's where he played before going to college at California State Monterey Bay, and has continued to come back to now for a third straight season, it's getting to share it with his family that is what makes it so special.

"My thing is that now that I've played all over the country and a bit overseas, when you do anything professionally there sometimes that you lose the joy of doing something in a way because it becomes your job," Koen said.

"I always played basketball because I love basketball and my family has loved basketball, and played it forever so I would play it even if I didn’t get paid.

"And sometimes that mindset doesn’t appeal to everyone else in a professional environment and sometimes you can forget why you started playing when money is involved.

"Then when you get back to NBL1, it's kinda the perfect mix of that because you have guys that are playing professionally but then so much of the staff and the club, and some players aren’t getting paid and are involved just because they love it.

"For me, that reminds me why I love basketball and did in the first place so Centrals are the best at that in every aspect that I've ever been part of no matter what NBL1 club I've been at.

"And I've been at great NBL1 clubs and none of them have been bad by any means, but at Centrals most of the staff behinds the scenes are all volunteering their time and a lot of it outside of their full-time jobs because they love the club, their kids are playing or whatever it is.

"It's a really cool environment and dad's probably one of the only NBL1 clubs I know that's not getting paid and he's happy to do it not just because his sons are there, but so are his illegitimate children like the Manyangs and the other guys who he's coached for a long time," Koen added.

"It's been cool every time I come back because it's an environment where everyone involved is doing it for the right reasons so it makes it an easy choice to come back home."

Embracing having dad as a coach

Koen is now also embracing having his dad as coach now for a third season in the NBL1 Central at Central Districts with Rupert making his return to coaching to lead a team including his sons after more than a decade away from it having previously coached the Norwood Flames to 2008 and 2009 championships.

Being able to play under his dad again when he comes back home in between professional seasons is something Koen will forever savour.

"I probably wouldn't come back, as much as I love Centrals, if it wasn’t for Kalani and dad, they are the reasons I come back here to play," Koen said.

"So having him as my coach means I just never doubt for a second that my coach has anything but my best interest in mind so selfishly that's a very good feeling.

"He wants me to have fun and play the way that I want to play partly because how I play is how he taught me to play so that's one thing.

"He also coached me as a junior and it might have been harder for me at some point because people always think you get favoured even though that was never the case, and if anything and my real teammates will attest to this, he was probably harder on me than anybody else and the same with Kalani.

"My dad's a teacher now and I'm studying to be a teacher too so have spent some time at schools, and all the kids that also have parents that work at the school are always on their best behaviour otherwise it's very easy to bring mum and dad in so it's the same kinda thing with basketball.

"Your parents sometimes are the best ones to snap you into gear when you need it and this will be my sixth year of professional basketball and 12th or 13th season, and now that I'm coming back here I do it more because I like to be around my dad, and my brother.

"And of course my mum at home as well so really it's as simple as that and I'm a family man who likes my family."

Looking up to younger brother

Koen might be the older brother in the Sapwell family, but he's happy to defer to Kalani on a number of fronts who will be celebrating his 23rd birthday on Sunday when the Lions are taking on the Sturt Sabres.

Not only is Kalani the captain at Central Districts and a player on the rise averaging 7.9 points and 6.1 assists in 2026 and on the back of 13 points and 13 assists in Saturday's win over the Southern Tigers, but it's his mind and drive that Koen will always tap into.

"Kalani is one of the smartest people I know and never in any way have I doubted that he wouldn’t be successful at whatever he does," Koen said.

"We always joke that Kalani is going to be the one that retires us all and allows us to live on some island in Spain because he's made the money to do it.

"But with his basketball, he's one of my inspirations as far as how hard he works with different stuff and that carries over into every part of his life.

"He's the first guy I talk to about what I should be investing in next and what I should be eating or any of that stuff because he's done the research and figured it out. I think he's one of the youngest captains in NBL1 Central and has been for a couple of years now and that's for a reason.

"He's 23 and turning 24 on Sunday, and there's a reason he gets that captaincy nod every year because he knows what he's doing and how to lead. His stats are always dependant on who's on the team because he'll never worry about getting his own and he's the ultimate team guy.

"Even this past weekend, I was in foul trouble early and he had 10 points to half-time and then finished with 13 assists so he always gives us whatever we need, and I have no doubt that he could influence a team at the next level too and help them win.

"Whether that's in the NBL or overseas, or if he just says screw it and he'll be millionaire outside of basketball, he's always going to be successful."

Confident of making a run in 2026

As for the Central Districts team of 2026, they currently have a 4-6 record having won their past two games and now coming into a double header this coming weekend at home to the Woodville Warriors on Saturday and away to the Sturt Sabres on Sunday.

Koen remains confident they are only going to keep getting better as the season goes on now they are all together and that he and his brother, Magok and Deng Manyang, and the rest of the crew will do their best to lead them back to the finals after last year's Grand Final appearance.

"I think we can and I think we're in a weird spot because we're kinda like this every year where we have guys coming back from college, I always come back late because I'm playing overseas and we basically have two different teams from the first half of the year to the second," Koen said.

"I think we're in a good spot and are starting to play better as we get to gel with each other more and more. We've had the same group of guys for a little while and that makes it easier to jump back in and play with those guys just with new imports every year.

"Then some guys are getting older and others are getting better. When I first started playing with the Manyangs they weren't great, and now they are NBL level guys so it's pretty cool to watch those guys grow up and contribute.

"The more we play together the better we're playing and this weekend with a double-header against Woodville and Sturt. They're two good teams ahead of us right now so it will be a good test to see how we fare against two playoff teams."

Having successful career in different way

Like most young basketball players growing up in Australia and certainly ones with a father who had a successful career, Koen dreamed of playing in the NBL and he did receive development player chances at the Phoenix and Bullets.

He hit the court five times across those two seasons and while he would be more than open to another NBL opportunity and feels he is ready to capitalise on that, he's also happy with the way his career has panned out over the last few years.

He continues to put up big numbers in the NBL1 especially a 25.8 points and 4.0 assists season at the Spartans of North in 2023, and now is continuing to standout in a third season having now played six matches with Central Districts in 2026 since returning from Finland.

At just 27 years of age, Koen has plenty of basketball ahead of him and is looking forward to where it takes him, but the European experiences are something he will forever cherish. Not just for the basketball, but it's helped to share the experience with Swedish partner Elin.

"Of course I would have loved to have just graduated high school and gone straight to an NBL team and played there for 10 years, and happily retire," Koen said.

"That would have been great, but the beauty of things not turning out the way you wanted originally has ended up being the biggest blessing.

"I've met people I wouldn’t have otherwise met, I met my partner when she was playing in Brisbane and she's Swedish so because I've been playing over in Europe, I've spent time with her family and done things like that which has been unreal.

"Before my first year in Germany, I'd never been in Europe and now I've been to 10 European countries so it's been pretty cool.

"I'm 27 now and I'd like to think I'm still getting better and if I'm lucky I can play another five or six years at the highest level possible whether that's in the NBL which I think I'm ready for, or continue what I've been doing in Europe.

"I definitely feel I'm in the advancing stage in my career and I'm definitely not ready to just go and play socials with my mates on a Monday night."