Hoops

Thon Maker 2010 High School Year Book

Surely these so called "guardians" that only look after these "athletes" are the ones that need investigating, the athletes themselves are the ones being used.

First law job was in a practice that did work for the (at the time) Department of Immigration and Citizenship. Also work in international sports industry and one of my roles is the prevention of sporting fraud.

- refugee kids in the late 2000s that came to Australia without documents or a known birthdate would normally receive a passport saying 0/0/year

- it's very difficult to obtain an Australian passport with documents that appear illegitimate - - in 2009 I actually worked on a case where a basketball player of very similar descent to Thon (in Sydney) requested the government to change the date of birth in his passport (making him 4 years younger, from 23 to 19), principally because he had been advised by a US college! he produced a bunch of dodgy looking documents which were simply not accepted


- if Thon had a passport in 2009, that means he was in Australia for AT LEAST 3 years prior because he would have first come on a protection visa


- the 'bone density' test if it is the same thing we use is actually an 'MRI test' - study here: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4166061/ - only works on 16 year old males. for the non-scientific, basically a bone in your wrist fuses fully at 16 years of age. it is thus easy to detect for u16 tournaments only.

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If you have a look at the Kangaroo Photos website. Go to Basketball, 2011, under 16 Australian Championships in Kilsyth, NSW Metro Men and have a look. He most certainly played. Plenty of photos there.

There was no discrimination going on against Maker by bnsw while he was playing reps in sydney. Smith just wanted totally control of him not allowing to be coached by
someone else.

Smith intentionally put Maker on div 2 rep teams so he look like a great player and to keep him under the radar. He didnt allow him to attend state trial as well.

There was a long term plan for Maker at all cost hence why there is alot question about his true age!

But if there was another Thon Maker, who attended Aranmore, surely somebody can find him?

Yeah you'd think if the book wasn't photoshopped that they'd be able to find the "other" Thon Maker.

In today's society in Australia, i'd say it's bloody hard for someone to do high school and then do it again as if he "never existed". Surely there'd be a hundred people ready to say "lol I went to HS with him". If it's a different Thon Maker, you'd think there's a hundred people saying "nah different guy" or even easily find the doppelganger.

It's a bizarre situation that's for sure.

He actually played div 2 reps for St George when he was in Sydney in U/16's I believe but never played State as his mentor believed that he was discriminated against by BNSW and the same went for a number of the other Sudanese players he was in control of.

He would tend to keep them away from State trials.

i would suggest he was with smith in 2009 when the passport was issued stating he was 12yrs.

He maybe forgot to put him back to primary school so he would not appear in high school graduation yr books in 2010. (aged 16-18yrs)?

All the conspiracy theorists have been claiming that the change was done when he moved from Perth. Either in 2010, or 2011. Yet here we have his passport issued in 2009???
Now this actually fits with what I read years back, that he was already in Smith's care in 2010.

But if there was another Thon Maker, who attended Aranmore, surely somebody can find him?

At the end of the day what matters is how talented/successful he is in the NBA - if he's not legit 19 but he does damn well then the age is somewhat irrelevant isn't it?

The flair up is if he doesn't do well then there will be calls of BS and deception

With my Tinfoil hat securely on.

Maybe someone put the plans in motion to reduce his age in 2009.

Why would a High School need someones passport.

It's still questionable to me.

You can be enrolled at a high school under certain documents, but whilst at high school you can still have details changed, while not informing your high school.

The problem is - unless Maker comes out and admits his true age then we'll most likely never know for sure.

If there has been some dodgy changing of birth dates, then I applaud whoever did it. If they had done a worse job then this might be all over already.

Ignore Zodiac he's 22-25 as per all the other evidence that's come up

Ignore the conspiracy theorists he's 19 as per the article I posted above.

agree with cram, cannot be 12yrs in 2009 and graduate high school in 2010

the passport was issued when he was 12yrs and in WA. He surfaced in Sydney a few yrs later and played u16s at a club.
Kids normally only get a passport when they are about to travel OS. Did thon go OS with this passport?

He never played in a registered comp in Perth which i find unusual for a talented player. He "didnt" play reps in Sydney metro, which again is unusual for a talented player. He has gone to the USA school system as an "inexperienced player" with no rep playing experience or coaching other than from his manager.

With all the circumstancial evidence, it would appear his manager has done an outstanding job "looking after him" at no cost for 5-6yrs and then securing a NBA contract.Is it a conspiracy, or legit????????

Coach in Melbourne over last few years was known to fake birth certs themselves with foreign born players.

Wait til the Bucks find out he's really 6'5 and Ed Smith has been faking his height and wingpsan all this time!

From reddit so take with a pinch of salt:
- Pretty much all the Aus government needs is a birth certificate
- Probably easy to fake one from a country like Sudan
- Possibly Ed might have someone back home who does them

All this passport proves is that the Australia Government accepted the proof provided to them.

I don't think anyone online has questioned the validity of his actual passport. It's more the documents that are supplied to get such passport.

I find it odd that this passport photo emerges now and is the only piece of "evidence" used to refute claims he's not 19.

MakerGate is definitely interesting.

The Many Makers theory doing on the rounds online also seems crazy and plausible at the same time!

If a refugee has no birth certificate or other documents, how does he get a passport?

#ThonMaker Expired Passport. Issued by Australian Government Nov 30 2009. Pictured: 12 y/o #Thon (DOB: Feb 25 1997) pic.twitter.com/ePRrmqa6x9

— Sky Smith (@Sky_Smith_) June 29, 2016

Why would you put someone who's reportedly struggling with English into a class that was much older than him if that was the case ( which is what was is being inferred ... It was an English class graduation NOT a high school graduation. )
And why has the school now removed the photos from website

Maybe we got it backwards and he lied about his age to graduate from school earlier??

Think the whole NBA issue won't matter at all if it is infact true he's older than he says, BUT did he ever represent Australia at junior national level, if he did then FIBA may have something to say about it.

Unless their is another image the only one from the 2010 year book I can see is class portraits which is simply head and shoulders, their is absolutely no way you can tell height from that

There's one glaring issue I've noticed with all that evidence from his Perth school.
Look at the height of him vs his classmates, now either his classmates are all nearly 7ft tall or he supposedly grow a whole foot in height when he was around 18, and then was still growing by the time he was 21-22?

Look at his face compared to his classmates as well, it's noticeable that he looks like he should be in primary school in his year 9 sport photos.

For an actual explanation how this could happen, he came from a refugee camp, authorities might have placed his age based on his height at the time. Once this Ed Smith guy found him maybe he tracked down his parents and uncle who might have had information? Who knows.

But the fact he's not taller than the rest of his 'peers' in these school photos actually supports he's around the correct age of 19.

I don't think anyone here is hating. You are allowed to question his age and not hate him as a player or wish him well.

Some of you Anons are so simple minded.

Maker, who says he is 19 but has faced questions he is much older after images yesterday surfaced from an old school yearbook, played for St George Basketball in Sydney in 2011.

Club administrator Anna Pazanin said she sighted his passport when he was registered with Basketball New South Wales in 2011.

“I saw his passport, I had the passport in my hand,” Pazanin said.

“We need some form of ID and his passport was produced as that form of ID, it had his name date of birth and picture.

“He wouldn’t have been able to play in our comp if he wasn’t back then U16.

“He was definitely at the right age when playing for St George Basketball.”

Ms Pazanin said she had not seen the Reddit pictures that purport Maker graduated from Aranmore Catholic College in Perth in 2010, but said she had faced several questions from media, including from the US, over his age.

“He’s just a tall kid,” she said.

“When he played U16s, that’s how tall he was.

“Just leave the kid alone, he’s worked so hard.”

In the NBL or Europe?

He is going to be a good player, ill stand with him. Cant wait for all these hatters to jump on his bandwagon in a few years when he is playing well.

Beating up Canadian high schoolers sure prepped him for playing against college guys

Forgot about that game. 14 minutes 2 turnovers 2 fouls 0 of 5 shooting against a guy who went something like 28th who had 21 6 boards 6 blocks.

Yes Thon also had 10 boards in those 14 minutes which I'll give props for

Anyone of note? Played in the 2015 hoop summit.. Brandon Ingram and Jaylen Brown.

If he is 23-24, becomes a decent NBA player but commits to the boomers for the next 10 years all is forgiven.

If he is 19 but goes out of his way to avoid playing for the boomers then he's no good.

He'll bust very quickly actually having to play basketball. Might have good wingspan and vert but he also hasn't played against anyone of note

People unhappy he's lied about his age= Tall poppy syndrome? Fuck off dickhead

People on this forum just like to correct and throw all their extensive knowledge upon everyone else. Dont think Thon Maker is too worried, that guarnteed Lottery pick money helps. But please continue the beginning of what will surley be a long prosperous 'tall poppy syndrome' type bagging. Hope he can be a star and the Bucks have got a freak!

Dragan will shit all over Thon. Dudes an absolute freak.

Feel free to correct me, but didn't Thon play one year of under 16s for NSW Metro at Kilsyth? Surely there would have been a process to confirm his age then. Now it just seems petty... What do people hope to achieve by questioning this now?

Why would the Bucks waive him now, its not like they get to draft again. They would have known full well there were questions about his age but apparently in pre draft interviews and workouts he really impressed, maybe a stretch to go 10 but stranger things have happened. Bender was drafted much higher but hardly had outstanding stats in Europe, its more about trying to snag the next Nowitzki and having a gamble over more established players.

I dont think there is an age limit for the draft, just a minimum.

An issue is, if he is 23 or older he would have been ineligible for the draft in the first place.

Why would the Bucks waive him now, its not like they get to draft again. They would have known full well there were questions about his age but apparently in pre draft interviews and workouts he really impressed, maybe a stretch to go 10 but stranger things have happened. Bender was drafted much higher but hardly had outstanding stats in Europe, its more about trying to snag the next Nowitzki and having a gamble over more established players.

Aliir Aliir from the Sydney Swans has revealed he is Thon's cousin and they lived together and played "hoops" in Newcastle. Aliir Aliir is listed as being born 5/9/1994 making him nearly 22yrs.

Thon, with the body of a possibly 23-25 year old man, only managed to put up something like 20 and 10 against shorter, weaker high schoolers. If Hammond knows he's older than he is and still picked him the guys an idiot. In my opinion

So he's the same age as as Aussie who finished he's senior college year this year? Or like Buddy Hield?

But, if the claims above are true I don't like the deceitfulness of his marketing campaign by him & his handlers. It has a smell about it.

In my opinion, yes he has been drafted, but in the tiny chance the Bucks didn't know all this, they'd surely have the right to waive him/ void his contract?

My view is that that yearbook photo is indeed Thon however it was him graduating the english school not year 12. The 9.2 class photo looks nothing like him. People from the school on reddit said there was around 7 or 8 makers at the school i think its mistaken identity for another thon maker at the school.


This photo is the best evidence. do you really think he looks 19/20 in this photo? No chance!!

http://www-static4.spulsecdn.net/pics/00/35/88/96/35889639_1_O.jpg

Doesn't really matter. He's been drafted.

Also, agree that just because he was in a graduating class in 2010 doesn't mean he was 16, 17 or even 18.

He could've been 14, none of us know.

However there are strict requirements for academic qualification for the NCAA relating to repeating years.

Basically, repeating years is not allowed. You have to complete years 9 to 12 in four consecutive years. So if he graduated in Perth, regardless of his age. He'd find he would have difficulty qualifying for US college if he's repeated years, whether that be in Sydney &/or High School in America.

Let's see how he progresses.

For me whether we like it or not is not the issue, the inference to me in all of this is Thon is/has been clearly associated with Australia and Basketball Australia. To me we've probably lost a little bit of respect if this is true.

Also, Thon has openly denied the age issue.

What does all this mean for his brother, Matur?

Pity the other current and future young Australians that have African heritage. It is now going to be that much tougher for them.

However, there is another quite well known Australian player, Deng Adel (NCAA Div 1 Louisville), where there has been similar persistent rumours about his true age as well for at least 5 or 6 years.

It's called a bone density scan. I believe the ICC use it for the World U19 championships.

I think a Pakistan U19 Cricket team may have been sent home in one of the ICC sanctioned U19 tournaments, quite possibly an ICC U19 Asia tournament, in the early 2000's.

I think it went a long the lines of - there were clear questions about the age of some of the players. Enough to force the ICC or organizers to request a bone density scan for the team and the result was the team was prevented from playing in the tournament.

Imo I dont think someone hiding something this big would seek legal action for the risk of the truth coming out.
Just my opinion.
But it doesn't really matter now. Can't undraft him.