“Like all things in life,” David said, “you work at it and get there.”

The big sport in New Zealand is rugby, and Loe’s father played one step below the professional level in England. But Rob — his parents usually call him Robert — was pulled toward basketball, a sport his mother had played in college. When Loe started playing miniball, a junior version of basketball, at about 8, he was a head taller than his peers. No one in New Zealand is ever far from the ocean (the Loes’ current house is about a six-minute walk from the beach), so water sports are common for young New Zealanders.

Loe dabbled in sports such as soccer, volleyball and water polo and did well in all of them, but basketball was his game of choice.

There was a basketball rim at the Loes’ first house and when they moved to a new home, when Rob was about 12 (and about 6-5), David put in a concrete half-court for Rob and his older brother, Jonathan. By high school, Loe had caught the attention of the New Zealand youth national teams, which is the next stop for up-and-coming Kiwi talent.