NONTHABURI (FIBA U18 Asian Championship 2018) - Flynn carries a lot of weight on his shoulders.

On the back of his jersey reads his last name – Cameron. The name might ring a bell among fans not only in New Zealand but around the world, relating to Pero Cameron who is Flynn’s father, a New Zealand basketball legend, and FIBA Hall of Famer. Pero has two trips to the Olympics and three FIBA Basketball World Cup appearances on his resumé, resulting in a significant amount of hype for his son to bear.

"It's a big expectation to live up to. He's definitely been my idol since day one. Just watching him play and how he controls the game.”

The younger Cameron has done well on his part so far in carrying the family name on the hardwood. He (and his elder brother Tobias) helped lead New Zealand to the their first ever FIBA U19 Basketball World Cup in 2017 after a historic win over Australia in the FIBA U18 Oceania Championship. Flynn averaged 4.6 points, 2.7 assists, and 2.7 rebounds during the tournament.

He’s be shouldering the weight of the name on the front of his jersey – New Zealand – again, as a member of the U18 Junior Tall Blacks at the FIBA U18 Asian Championship. So far, he is averaging an all-around 8.8 points, 5.6 rebounds, and 4.4 assists in the first 5 games.

Though he’s still only 18, Flynn can be considered a relatively seasoned veteran at this level of play. Aside from his experience playing in the FIBA U19 Basketball World Cup, Flynn has already enrolled at Depaul University. He’s expected to play for the NCAA Division 1 school next season and hopes to make a big impact as soon as possible.

“Competition wise it (the international experience) has kind of made me more prepared, made me a smarter player, and it’s helped me confidence wise being such a young player on that team.” Flynn told the Depaulia earlier in January this year during an interview.

“I like to create, and most importantly I like to win,” He added in the same interview. “Maybe not now, but I reckon I can make an impact in a couple years time, maybe junior (or) senior year.”

“I believe I can be the one that can make [Depaul] better by distributing the ball and making others better,” Flynn told 247Sports. “Just making the right plays down the stretch as well and creating for not only myself but for my teammates.”

New Zealand has made it clear that Flynn will be a leader on this team. He's logged the second most amount of minutes on the team (24.7 MPG) and averages the most assists (4.4 APG).

"Just following through with our leaders from last year,  our team was basically a close tight-knit group," Flynn said prior to the tournament. "I’m just trying to recreate what we had with that team for this team and I feel like this team we can be a lot closer."

Flynn's been able to replicate some of that success here in the FIBA U18 Asia Championship for New Zealand. At the very least, they've already booked their second consecutive trip to the FIBA U19 World Championship after a Quarterfinals win over defending champions, Iran. It was Flynn's best performance of the tournament so far as he put up 15 points, 4 rebounds, 8 assists, and a whopping 7 steals.

Now that New Zealand have already secured a trip to the world stage, they can set their focus on the ultimate goal: winning the FIBA U18 Asian Championship. With Flynn Cameron shouldering the weight and leading the way, New Zealand knows they have a chance to make it happen.

FIBA