NBLC Alumni: Xavier Moon
London Lightning
6’2
Guard
From Goodwater, Alabama
2020 All-NBLC
Basketball talent appears to be something that runs in the Moon family - Xavier's uncle Jamario has sixteen years of professional experience. As a member of the Toronto Raptors, Jamario was named to the 2008 NBA All-Rookie team, and he also saw time with the Miami Heat, Cleveland Cavaliers, Los Angeles Clippers and Charlotte Bobcats.
When it came to Xavier's time, he started strong, leading all of the state of Alabama with 35 points per game for Coosa Central in 2012-13. This saw Moon recruited to the Northwest Florida Raiders. In sophomore year, the Raiders won the NJCAA Division 1 championship, beating South Plains 83-80 in the final, and Moon was named to the All-Panhandle conference second team.
This performance caught the attention of the Morehead State Eagles in Kentucky, for whom he started playing for in 2015. His 10.2 points per game was the second-highest scoring average of the team, and he also finished seventh overall in the conference for three-pointers. In his final season for Morehead State, he started in every game and finished with a 16.0 points and 4.6 assists per-game average.
His first year as a professional was split between Evreux Basket in France and the Albany Patroons of North American Pro Basketball, with whom he won the league's inaugural Rookie of the Year award. In the 2018 NBLC off-season he signed with the London Lightning and did not take long making an impact with his new team in Canada.
He scored in double digits in five of his first six games for London, the last three of which he finished with twenty points-plus to his name. He made many more double-digit performances in 2018-19, including a season-best 33 against the KW Titans on January 19th. The Lightning finished first overall in the Central Division but suffered a first-round playoff loss to the KW Titans.
Moon impressed the team's front office enough to re-sign him for the following season. He was even more spectacular in his second stint, scoring in single digits in just one of the twenty games he played in. This included an NBLC career-best 39 points against the Titans, one of his three thirty-point games in the season. With averages of 21.5 points, 6.5 rebounds and 5.3 assists, he was named to the All-NBLC first team of 2020.
Canada seems to inspire success in Moon: with his other team, the Edmonton Stingers, he is a three-time recipient of the CEBL's MVP award and first championship with Edmonton in 2020. He and the team retained the title the following year and Moon won his second Finals MVP award. In between CEBL seasons he played for Szczecin in Poland for the 2020-21 PLK season.
This continued an upward trajectory for Moon: after signing with the Agua Caliente Clippers in the NBA G League, for whom he recorded six double-digit games and a double-double in ten appearances, he was called up to their parent team the Los Angeles Clippers on a ten-day contract in December 2021.
Playing in Canada seems to have inspired Xavier Moon to success and been vital stepping stones for him on the way to reaching the highest level of basketball.
Updated from the original December 26th 2021
