Hackney basketball star Orlan Jackman was left delighted after reaching a big milestone in the British Basketball League (BBL).
The 28-year-old scored 12 points for his Newcastle Eagles team as they defeated Manchester Giants on Friday night.
and in doing so it took him past the 1,000 points mark in the league.
He said: “It’s a great achievement seeing as I haven’t played all of my basketball in England. We have already won a title this year but this is a little personal milestone for me.
“People tend not to reach this as they don’t stay in the league that long. There’s not been many British players reach it either.”
Jackman also believes his success is partly because of his Hackney upbringing and he still looks back at his childhood with great fondness.
“I think about it all the time,” he said. “I went to West Homerton College of Technology and every now and again I go back and visit.
“I first realised basketball was for me when I was there. I played for England U18s and thought this could be something for me.”
His career has taken him around the globe.
The former Oklahoma City University graduate counts Noma Iserlohn Kangeroos of Germany and CAB Madeira of Portugal as former clubs as well as BBL sides London Lions and Worcester Wolves.
But he explained that it was probably destiny that took him to Tyneside.
He said: “The coach has wanted to sign me for a while and I decided to come up last summer. You need to play for the best and for me this is the best club with the most history.
“It’s a fun city with a lot of historical places and the beach is close too. I’m enjoying it.
It’s not all play though, with plenty of hard work in there too. That is something demanded by Newcastle’s head coach Fabulous Flourney, who has become almost the Alec Ferguson of the BBL.
And with old club Worcester next up for the Eagles on Friday, Jackman is happy to follow his lead if it leads to more silverware.
He said: “[Fab is] very intense but his way of doing things has won him so many things. And we want to win the league again this year.
“[Worcester] have just beaten the league leaders, which has done us a favour. But they’re playing some good stuff at the minute. It’ll be tough.”
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