Graeme Davey is remembered by the basketball community for his administrative work for basketball in New Zealand, but his career started in Canterbury as a player.
During the 1970’s Davey held various roles on the executive of the Canterbury Basketball Association and also had a stint as the secretary and treasurer of the Basketball Referees Association of New Zealand (BRANZ). At the time, the New Zealand Basketball Federation, the predecessor to Basketball New Zealand, was located in Christchurch and Davey became its President from 1980 to 1986. During this time, in 1980, Davey and other members of the executive travelled to Russia to promote New Zealand basketball at the Moscow Olympics.
During his time as President, New Zealand hosted the one and only Commonwealth Basketball Tournament in 1984. In 1986 Davey hosted the then General Secretary of FIBA, Boris Stankovic and his wife for a week in New Zealand. This groundwork helped with New Zealand’s invitation as a wild card entry to the World Championships in Spain in 1987 and the emergence of New Zealand basketball on the international stage.
Davey spent several years on the executive board of FIBA and was also the President for FIBA Oceania, one of few New Zealanders to achieve this honour.
Davey passed away in February 2015. The award was accepted by Graeme’s wife Bev Davey.
