NBLC Alumni: Warren Ward

6'5

Guard

From London, Ontario

Tenure: 2014-2017

2016 Canadian of the Year

1x All-NBLC

1x All-Canadian

A home grown player whose time playing basketball was sadly short, Warren Ward was a tireless worker on offence for every outfit he played for and managed to fit plenty of experience playing at all different levels of the sport into his career, the NBL Canada taking up a large portion of that.

In 2008, nineteen-year-old Ward joined the Ottawa GeeGees of Canadian Interuniversity Sports, with whom he would earn a place on the OUA East All-Rookie team in his first season. The following year he started in all 22 games for Ottawa and recorded personal bests of 18.2 points and 6.8 rebounds per game. He helped the GeeGees reach third place in the CIS tournament his senior year, where he himself finished his tenure with 17.9 points, 7.7 rebounds and 3.8 assists per contest.

In the middle of his CIS career, he represented the Canadian national team on two occasions: the first being the 2011 University Games in Shenzhen. Ward led the scoring twice as Canada finished first in their group and went on to the final, where they lost 68-55 to Serbia, but still came home with the silver medal.

Two months later he was part of the team for the Pan American Games in Guadalajara, Mexico. He again led the scoring on two occasions, as well as a one-time rebounding leader, but after a second group stage loss, 90-58 to Puerto Rico, Canada went no further in Guadalajara.

Turning professional in 2013, Ward signed with TBB Trier in Germany, for whom he played 33 games and registered 6.6 points and 3.4 rebounds per game. He began the next season with Sorgues in France, but left after eight games for the NBL Canada.

He played ten games for the Mississauga Power in 2015 - which included five twenty-point performances and two double-doubles - before following his coach Kyle Julius to the London Lightning. In his home debut he put up 31 points against the Niagara River Lions, a performance he would improve on come March, scoring 32 points and grabbing 13 total rebounds in a tight, three-point win against the Island Storm.

Ward played 54 games for London in the 2015-16 regular season, averaging 12.1 points per game as the Lightning topped the Central Division and reached the NBLC Finals. They lost the title to the Halifax Hurricanes, but Ward had some solace in being named Canadian of the Year for 2016.

The following season, Ward signed with the Windsor Express and started in all 43 games. On 51% field goal shooting, he averaged 14.1 points and 4.3 rebounds as Windsor finished second overall in the Central Division. Against the Orangeville A's on March 11th 2017, Ward had his career-best scoring show, pouring in a game-high 33 points for his team.

At the season's end he was named to the All-NBLC and All-Canadian First Teams as the Express swept the KW Titans in the first round of the playoffs. They were swept themselves by Ward's old team, the Lightning, in the semi finals.

In the off-season Ward competed in the pro-am Nike Crown League in Toronto, playing for ACE alongside NBL Canada mainstay Tyrone Watson and then-rookie of the Toronto Raptors, Pascal Siakam, reaching the semi finals of the tournament. From there he joined up with Spanish second division squad Caceras, averaging 14.5 points in 20 games. Finding his abilities hampered by an increasing collection of injuries, Ward made the decision to retire from basketball in 2018. He then served as a commentator for Canada's only contingent in the NBA G League, Raptors 905.

That his career came to a premature end would have been disappointing for himself as well as onlookers and fans. He may have had a lot more to offer, but he already gave a lot to both the NBL Canada and the national basketball scene which should not go without mention.