Australia - Superstars Chris Anstey and Sam MacKinnon announce retirements

From www.interbasket.net
Download source here

Australia’s long time serving centre Chris Anstey and premier swingman Sam MacKinnon have both announced their retirement from basketball.

The two good friends play for the Melbournce Tigers and were very emotional at the press conference.

Chris Anstey will finish the last two games of the season, while “Slammin’ Sam” is already sidelined due to an injury.

Anstey and MacKinnon were key members of the Australian National Team (aka The Boomers) since the mid 90s and were the two key players in Australia’s Gold Medal performace in the 1997 Under 23 FIBA World Championships.

Sam MacKinnon was the starting small forward of the team in the 1996 Atlanta Games, 1998 FIBA World Championship, 2000 Sydney Olympics but was injured in the 2004 Athens Games.

He played a spectacular role as a 6?5? power forward during the 2006 FIBA World Championships in place for Matty Nielsen who was unavailable due to insurance policy reasons and clashes between Basketball Australia and his Lithuanian club.

“Slammin’ Sam” as he was known to many Australian fans due to his in game dunks was the first NBL player to ever capture Defensive Player of the Year, Regular Season MVP, Finals MVP and a Championship all in one season (2007) with the Brisbane Bullets.

Unlike Chris Anstey, McKinnon was only able to show his abilities in the NBL and on national team duty. McKinnon was never able to crack into the NBA (though in 2007 he had some workouts with some NBA teams over the summer in attempt to enter the league through the veterans entry and training camps) and unlike many present Australian basketball players he did not have a European passport thus, hampering his chances of playing in Europe as a local rather than as an import.

Chris Anstey on the other hand was able to play briefly in the NBA. He was drafted 18th overall by the Portland Trailblazers but was immediately traded to Dallas Mavericks for another big man. Though regulated to the bench for most of his time there, he did record a 24 points game against the Boston Celtics. He would be eventually traded to the Chicago Bulls but after one season there he was dropped from the team after deciding to play in the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney with the national team instead of staying in Chicago to do further workouts with the Bulls.

Anstey would then head across the Atlantic Ocean to the cold lands of Russia, firstly in Perm where he played as an import and then with UNICS Kazan. He had solid seasons in the Russian League and other European basketball competitions, winning the Russian Championships, EuroChallenge Championship, EuroLeague All Star selection (twice) and a ULEB Cup MVP.

Upon his return in 2006 to Australian shores after many seasons overseas in the US and Europe he dominated the local scene like never before. He was the second player to win Defensive Player of the Year, Regular Season MVP and Finals MVP in one season (2008).

Anstey was the first real centre in the NBA to shoot the three as consistently as any NBL three point shooter and dominated the paint leading the league in blocks from 2006-2009 (4 seasons in a row) and rebounding in 2008 and 2009. He led Melbourne to 2 Championships and team were regualar title contenders.

Many would say that Chris Anstey would be in the top 3 centres of All Time in Australian Basketball History after Andrew Bogut and Luc Longley due to his dominance of the NBL, success in Europe (Russian Championship, ULEB Cup MVP, EuroChallenge Championship and EuroLeague All Star) and his brief stint in the NBA.

Sam MacKinnon would be regarded as one of the most versatile players in the NBL’s history. He was the NBL’s answer to Scottie Pippen. During his incredible 2007 season with the Brisbane Bullets he was in the top 10 in points, rebounds, assists, steals and blocks while also being relied upon to be the team’s defensive stopper.