Wildcats unveil John Mooney

New Perth Wildcats import John Mooney has completed his mandatory hotel quarantine period and has joined his teammates for the first time.

While the 206cm forward is being eased into full training, he’s excited to begin his Wildcats journey.

“I’m super fortunate to be here and to be able to learn from a championship organisation like this. It’s first class, the people here are great, all the guys on the team are really good players and they know how to play,” he said.

“I’m looking forward to being able to learn from these guys and begin my professional career, so I’m excited.”

While Mooney is regarded as an NBA-quality talent, he said his focus is purely on doing what he can to help his new team win.

“As an American kid, your dream is to play in the NBA, but that being said, my sole focus is on Perth right now. I’m going to help my team out in as many ways as I can, hopefully help us bring back a third-straight title,” he said.

“I’ll worry about that (NBA), after this season.”

After spending two weeks in a hotel and meeting his new team, Mooney joked his biggest challenge right now may take place away from the court.

“Honestly driving on the left side of the road! That’s kind of a big adjustment. But no, just getting in here and getting my feet under me after two weeks quarantine. I tried to do whatever I could in the room to make the transition as painless and as smooth as possible,” he said.

“Just running up and down and having a ball in my hands feels really good.”

The American also had some advice for the Red Army.

“My friends and everything don’t really call me John, my family does, so Mooney or Moon is pretty much what a lot of people call me!”