He's the ''difference maker'' for the Australian Boomers - a 2.08m, 127kg wrecking ball once nicknamed ''Baby Shaq''.
Powerful centre Nathan Jawai has re-emerged from a serious neck injury to achieve his dream of playing at the World Cup.
Jawai's immediate playing future was put on hold when he was hospitalised with dizziness and pain in his neck and back while playing for his Turkish club Galatasary in October last year.
It's not the first time injury has held him back.
Jawai was found to have an irregularity with his heart during a medical with the Toronto Raptors in 2008.
He played six games with the Raptors and another 39 with the Minnesota Timberwolves before leaving the NBA at the end of the 2009-10 season.
The 27-year-old based himself for six months at the AIS in Canberra this year as part of a torrid rehabilitation schedule to get himself back in the national team.
Boomers coach Andrej Lemanis has been impressed with Jawai's determination, shedding plenty of weight to make himself the inside presence his side needs in the absence of Andrew Bogut.
“It's been great commitment from Nate to get himself to this point from where he was in December after he had his incident,'' Lemanis said.
"He’s a difference maker for sure, we don’t have a body type like that.
"Nate gives us that something different in that centre position that’s difficult for other teams to deal with."
Jawai will share court time with San Antonio Spurs centre Aron Baynes, who can also move to the power forward spot.
"It's been a tough road for him, but he's managed to overcome it,'' Baynes said.
"We're looking for big things from him, for sure.
"There's definitely size in a lot of the teams, so he's definitely a great option to have.''
Another in the Boomers who is heading to his first major international competition is prolific scorer Chris Goulding.
The 25-year-old shooting guard has developed his craft in the NBL, spending time with the Brisbane Bullets, Perth Wildcats and Gold Coast Blaze before winning the scoring title with the Melbourne Tigers last season.
Those performances got Goulding noticed enough that he has signed with Spanish club CAI Zaragoza.
"The NBL is a great pathway for young kids if they want to go that way and work hard and take a few opportunities," Goulding said.
"It's a tough league, I started as a development player with the Bullets and kept progressing and tried to take the opportunities I was given.
"It's one of the better leagues around the world.''
Goulding played in the NBA Summer League for the past two years, firstly with the Cleveland Cavaliers and most recently with the Dallas Mavericks.
"I took it a bit more seriously this time and I got to Dallas early to prepare with the team and the coaching staff,'' Goulding said.
"I was definitely hoping for an NBA contract, I had some pretty good feedback from Dallas during the NBL season and in the off-season.
"That didn't work out, but it's a pretty good showcase for other leagues in the world and other teams in the NBA."
