Kuron dreaming big after impressive Eagles debut

Image credit: Mark Filpo (@codexdesignstudio)

Kuron Swaka Lo Buluk is still in school but you would never know it by looking at him and he had an NBL1 West debut to remember for the East Perth Eagles and continues to take inspiration from what his older brother is doing in the NBL.

Starting young runs in the Swaka Lo Buluk family with Kuron's older brother Wani becoming the youngest ever Perth Wildcats debutant as a 17-year-old and even though he is still only 23 years of age, he's already a four-time NBL championship winner with 180 games to his credit.

Kuron has only just turned 17 years of age himself and is still in high school at La Salle College, having been earmarked now as a talent of the future including standout performances representing Western Australia, he made his mark at NBL1 West level last Thursday night.

With the Eagles chasing their first win of the NBL1 West season against the Kalamunda Eastern Suns on Easter Thursday, it was Swaka Lo Buluk who came on in the second quarter and gave East Perth the spark they needed.

He might have ended up playing only 3:30 in his debut NBL1 performance, but he had a significant impact including scoring his first points with a pair of free throws, and ending up with two points, a rebound and a steal.

The Eagles were trailing by six points when Swaka Lo Buluk entered the game early in the second quarter, but he helped to turn the momentum just with his energy, physicality and quick hands which is impressive for someone of his size.

East Perth ended up being +3 in his minutes and went on to score the important win to get on the board in 2025 and Swaka Lo Buluk was proud of a night that he'll always remember.

"It was great getting out there on the court like just from being in warmups I could tell it was going to be a fun game which I’m proud and thankful for that opportunity," Swaka Lo Buluk said.

"It was a really good feeling having my first two career points on the board for NBL1 but we talked about it as a team in locker room what we needed to do to get the win.

"I just did what Carl (Filpo, Head Coach) needed me to do even if it was just four minutes and just have that mindset like I always be ready to do my job to make that impact."

There was a lot for Swaka Lo Buluk to take in last Thursday as he made his NBL1 debut but it was also a pinch himself moment to look to the Eastern Suns team and see Terrico White up against him.

After all, he was an NBL championship winning teammate with his brother at the Perth Wildcats so that was another aspect that will make it a night he'll forever treasure.

"Watching Terrico back when he was playing with Wildcats he was just crazy like that duo with him and Bryce (Cotton) was crazy," he said.

"Anybody in Perth I think would love to have that back. But five years later to myself being on the same floor as him was pretty fun versing an ex NBA player."

Kuron has already been a standout playing for WA at underage level and also while representing La Salle College, and that should come as no surprise consider Wani started playing in the NBL1 as a 17-year-old before becoming a Wildcats development player that same year.

While Wani did his NBL1 work at the Warwick Senators including leading them to a West Coast Classic championship back in 2020 when he played as a point guard, Kuron is a vastly different type of player.

He is much more of an interior type of player with a big frame, impressive wingspan and someone who has a game where he can bang bodies with those much older than him, but also with a soft touch to make him a threat wherever he has the ball.

Kuron's not sure what it is that runs in his family that seems to allow them to already be ready to standout while still in high school, but he's sure not complaining and is ready to embrace any and every opportunity that comes his way.

"Ahahahah maybe maybe nah but it’s great that we started our careers off playing at the same age in NBL1/ NBL," he said.

"It just shows at this age we both worked really hard for this and that it wasn’t just given but we both earned it and it’s led him to four championships which is going good for him and I’m looking to get one this year with Eagles!"

What Wani has done already in his career is incredible having started at 17 with the Wildcats and winning two championships with his hometown team as a development player before heading east to begin life in the NBL as a fully contracted player.

He would go on to be a starter in another championship for the Sydney Kings before making the move to the Illawarra Hawks, and now he is fresh off playing another huge role on their breakthrough championship recently to wrap up NBL25.

It's remarkable to think that with everything he has done already, that Wani himself is still only 23 years of age and nobody is prouder than his younger brother.

"It’s been great like sometimes I wish that could happen to me but he’s definitely put a lot of work in to win those four championships," Kuron said.

"And i talk to him about it and he just tells me to work really hard and also have fun when I play. Definitely a Hawks fan."

Right now, the world is at Kuron's feet and he doesn’t need to be in any rush to decide which direction his basketball future will head, and can just enjoy the ride.

However, given the size he has and the talent he possesses to play as a big banging bodies down low but with a nice shooting touch, there's every reason to think there's no ceiling on what he can achieve.

He might enter the college system once he finishes school, he might follow Wani's path and get into the NBL straight away as a teenager or there are plenty of other paths that could become available.

And Kuron has big dreams and rightfully so, but right now he just wants to enjoy every day as it comes.

"Ultimate goal in the future is definitely NBA but would love to also play in NBL or even In the EuroLeague," he said.

"But as of right now while I’m in school so I’ll just wait and see where it leads me after school."