Hashtags are thrown around pretty freely these days, almost ironically, but there's no more apt way to describe just where the 31-year-old is at.

Apt given the book on his basketball journey wasn't so much closed as slammed shut in 2016 at just 27, and after nine seasons in the NBL.

Never an MVP favourite, Demos' penchant for making match-turning hustle plays at the defensive end ensured he was always a fan favourite.

Wollongong down to his socks, he was Hawks Defensive Player of the Year in three of his six seasons with his hometown NBL club, a blue-collar guy who punched well above his weight, just like the city he represented.

That competitive nature, and the disregard for his own body that came with it, was ultimately what brought him undone well before his time.

A knee injury, one of many, cut his 2015-16 season short and sitting out the following one didn't see his battered knees recover to the level required to continue playing elite sport.

In fact his concern was less about whether he could return to the NBL and more about whether he'd be able to walk comfortably at 40 should he continue.

It put him in the boat all professional athletes dread - career over on terms other than their own. It was a tough pill to swallow and, while he wasn't dirty on the game, he certainly didn't want a bar of it.

"For me my professional career ended through injury which was tough," Demos said.

"I wasn't ready to stop playing and I didn't want to stop playing. For me to move on I felt I had to step away from basketball and figure out myself and what I wanted to do and what the next step was.

"I had my family to focus on but that next step for me was figuring out who I was and what I was passionate about apart from basketball. For me that was community and helping young kids.

"I was lucky enough that I fell into a few community services roles working with kids in out-of-home care and foster care which was a passion of mine.

"From there it just snowballed and I knew that was what I wanted to do, it was filling that void of basketball and competing."

Ironically it was that gig with the Illawarra Aboriginal Corporation and his own Indigenous heritage that kept him connected to the sport through the Apunipima AIB All Stars.

He played for the All-Stars in three Trans-Tasman series against the New Zealand Maori under AIB head coach and CEO Joel Khalu, deepening his ties to the Indigenous community.

The contacts and relationships built through both organisations became the driving force behind the Hawks wildly successful Indigenous Round last season.

It was a success felt across the game and saw a league that had long lagged behind other major sports when it comes to Indigenous recognition take a quantum leap.

"Every other national league was recognising an Indigenous Round," Demos said.

"It was something Flinny [Matt Flinn] and Kane [Ellis] from the AMS pushed last year, it was a massive thing.

"Some people said it couldn't happen and it won't happen but with the persistence of Flinny, Soup [Mat Campbell] and Kane from the AMS we got it done.

"It's not just about having a jersey with Indigenous artwork, it's more than that. It's linking it in with community and having the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community's input.

"Hopefully it gets off an running for the whole NBL to do it this year."

The success of the round was due in no small part to the international exposure brought by San Antonio Spurs star, and longtime mate of Demos, Patty Mills.

Mills donned the specially made strip in press ops in the US and wasn't shy about calling out the NBL for dragging its feet on the initiative.

It's far from just talk from Mills, who's fast becoming an Indigenous icon with his exploits on and off the floor. Demos is a major part of the latter now six months into his role as AIB president.

It's seen them log countless kilometres around the country visiting remote Indigenous communities delivering health and educational programs and spreading the basketball gospel.

The impacts of the visit are far-reaching well beyond their brief visits, with Mills and AIB combining with Zero Mass Water to install clean drinking water in six remote Aboriginal communities.

The journey culminated in another historic first, with the AIB All-Stars facing the visiting Kingdom of Hawai'i in an International Indigenous Basketball and Cultural Showcase prior to the Boomers exhibition clash with Team USA at Marvel Stadium last month.

Having first played for the All-Stars in one-off games in regional stadiums, Demos admits calling it an "eye-opener" is something of an understatement.

"I've been in the role [of president] for six months or so and even in those six months we've accomplished a lot not just on the basketball court but out in communities," Demos said.

"We've delivered the water project with Patty Mills and Zero Mass water out in six Aboriginal communities. I can't really describe how much of an eye-opener it's been and how thankful I am for the experience but it's just the start.

"It's a credit to our CEO and founder Joel Khalu. The big picture was having an Indigenous All-Stars team that would travel and play different games throughout the world.

"It's all started off as that small little project but it's developed into more than just basketball, we're out in the communities, we're delivering different health outcomes and educational outcomes.

"That's the main goal of AIB, deliver those programs and give Indigenous kids a path to playing. If they don't reach the NBL they can still represent their culture and their people.

"It's been a very busy six months, I've had to make some sacrifices being away from the family and kids but it's been so worth it."

It's also only deepened the bond Demos shares with Mills that began when they first kicked around the Snakepit as pre-teens before later forming a friendship at the AIS.

They've taken different paths, but Demos says he still finds inspiration from his mate's approach to life as an advocate for his people, something he takes to with the same vigour as he does the game.

"I tell him all the time that I'm so proud of everything he's done, not just on the basketball court but what he's done for his family, his culture and the wider basketball community and Australia," Demos said.

"It is unbelievable. He's still young, he's got two more years on his contract left and when he finishes playing basketball he'll naturally step into that role as an advocate for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.

"I've learned so much from him in about how passionate he is about his culture and wanting to give back to these kids that may have different dreams, being a maths teacher or a PE teacher

"The way he engages with these kids is natural and it's real. That's why he has such a massive impact on the community."

It's been a hell of a path and one that leaves him ready to step back into elite basketball, this time as assistant on Hawks head coach Matt Flinn's coaching staff.

"I still miss those days of talking trash and competing hard and all that stuff," he said.

"I think I'll always miss that but now after having four years away from basketball sorting out myself and what I wanted to do, I feel like I'm ready to come back and give back to basketball as well.

"I had to step away after getting injured because it wasn't easy for me, I couldn't even watch the games at times.

"I still loved the game but that's what it took for me to transition into life after basketball. Now I've obviously figured out the other side of things I'm ready to get back.

"It'll be a learning curve. I'm a very passionate person and I'm a competitor and I love competing. I'm going to have to figure out a different way to compete as a coach now."

His work on Flinn's staff will naturally have a focus on the defensive end, he might hand out a few lessons when he plays against his pupils at the Snakepit on Saturday (you don't need fouls in retirement) in his last top-flight game.

It's a natural strength but Demos said he plans to mentor the club's young crop in all aspects of the game - though teaching the likes of Emmett Naar the art of smack talk might be a stretch.

"You can't teach that," he says with a grin.

"Obviously my strengths as a player were on the defensive end. I know the game of basketball but my strengths were there.

"I'll look to pass on any bit of knowledge I can to these younger kids, not just offense and defence. What I'm going to take personally is mentoring these kids about professional sport and the things that come with it.

"Whether it's stuff off the floor, not playing and being upset about not playing and how to manage all those things.

"They were some of the things I didn't have as a professional athlete that I probably could've used at times.

"That's a role I'll take on myself and I'm really, really excited."

And so the boots will be hung up again, but this time on his own terms.

"This'll be my last game and I'll be hanging them up for good," he said.

"To play for the Australian Indigenous team against the club that I grew up idolising and grew up playing for, played my last professional game for, is going to be really special."