Chad Posthumus: Towering Winnipegger, Career Sadly Cut Short
- TTN
- Feb 27, 2019
- 2 min read
Updated: Nov 22, 2024
6’11
Centre
From Winnipeg, Mantioba
The Canadian basketball community was shocked and saddened by the news that Chad Posthumus passed away from complications of a brain aneurysm at the age of 33 on November 20th 2024.
For ten years Posthumus made good use of his towering presence and strength, entertaining crowds in Canada and beyond, seeing plenty of success and even picking up a few trophies on the way.
Posthumus began playing with both the UBC Thunderbirds in Vancouver and the Howard Hawks in Big Spring, Texas, before making the move to the NCAA in 2012. Playing for the Morehead State Eagles, he averaged 9.6 points on 51% field shooting as a senior. In addition, his 10.9 rebounds per game was the second-best total in the country - numbers that saw him receive numerous conference honours.
He turned professional in 2014, first playing for the Chicago Bulls in the NBA Las Vegas Summer League. He then went on to play in Japan, Argentina and saw his first stint in Canada with the NBLC's Mississauga Power - scoring 73 points in three appearances.
The London Lightning then signed him for 2015-16 season, before trading him to the Island Storm for Nick Evans. On the season as a whole Posthumus compiled eleven double-doubles and a season-best 25 points on two occasions, also reaching the playoffs with the Storm but losing in the first round to the Halifax Hurricanes.
Posthumus then returned to Japan, playing for Kagoshima, Sun Rockers Shibuya and Shinshu Brave Warriors in the space of eighteen months. After a year-long absence from the game, in January 2019 he suited up for the Halifax Hurricanes in the NBLC, averaging 5.2 points on 55% field shooting.
Staying in Canada, Posthumus represented the Saskatchewan Rattlers in the inaugural CEBL season, playing eighteen games en route to winning the championship with the team. In 2022 he made seventeen starts for the Ottawa Blackjacks and averaged 8.0 points and 8.9 rebounds as well as seven rebounds, helping Ottawa to reach the playoff semi-finals.
Next year, after playing for the Brampton Honey Badgers in the Americas Champions League, Posthumus became the first player signed for the newly-formed Winnipeg Sea Bears. On the 2023 season, he made fourteen starts and five double-doubles as the team finished second in the Western Conference, but lost to Edmonton in the first round of the playoffs.
He re-joined the Sea Bears for the 2024 season, making twenty appearances but again falling short of the playoffs in what would sadly be his final basketball season. A player of great athleticism and talent whose time on the basketball court was tragically cut short, but in that time did his country, his sport and everyone he played with proud.
Updated from the original article on November 22nd 2024.
