No81 SAM MACKINNON
6 feet 6 inch (197cm)
Forward/Guard
Samuel “Sam” Mackinnon was born August 25th, 1976 in Melbourne, Victoria.
Sam’s basketball career started when his father Mel,at Sam’s request, took him to Diamond Valley Basketball Association and Sam was taken on as a member of the Diamond Valley Telstars at the age of nine. He was to spend a year at Diamond Valley before moving to Kingsbury Youth Club where he was coached by Coach Fred Liddy.
Sam credits Fred Liddy with much of his early successand love for the game. “Fred was a character, an old boxer.......we’d have some fun...and he’d fire you up like a boxer. It was a good mix,” recalls Sam.
Although he was now at Kingsbury Sam also played with Diamond Valley in the Victorian Basketball Association (VBA) on Friday nights.
“Around this time, I began to show promise in both football and basketball, making State squads for each sport. Due to the demands of training, it became clear I’d need to make a choice between the sports if I wanted to progress to an elite level. With the help of my parents, Barb and Mal (who played AFL for Brunswick in the VFA), I decided to pursue basketball. For me, the decision was simple. I wanted to play for Australia and go to an Olympic Games,” says Sam.
He was chosen in the Victorian Under 16 basketball team and the Elite Squad which meant training sessions on Monday and Tuesday nights. Sam was to become a permanent fixture on Victorian Junior sides and represented his State at Under 16, Under 18 and Under 20’s with his teams winning five National Championships in that period.
As a member of the North East Melbourne Arrows,Sam learnt a lot under the coaching of Mike Kelly an American playing in the NBL player. In 1993 he trained with the North Melbourne Giants under future Australian Olympic Coach Brett Brown. “So I have had a lot of positive influences,” comments Sam.
In 1993 Sam was recruited for the National Basketball League (NBL) by the North Melbourne Giants, the South East Melbourne Magic and West Side Saints. He signed with the Magic. The next year he represented Australia for the first time as a member of the Australian Junior Men’s team that won the Oceania Junior World Championships Qualification Tournament. With that team Sam played in the Albert Schweitzer Tournament and on a tour to Europe. In Australia Sam played for the Junior National Team against Japan, Korea and the University of Missouri.
In 1995 Sam represented Australia in the World Junior Men’s Championships in Greece where the team won the Silver Medal.
Sam played with the Magic for five years from 1994 to 1998. In 1994 his first year in the NBL he was named NBL Rookie of the Year. In 1996 he was a member of the Magic team that won the NBL title.
At 6 feet 6 inches (197cm) in height and at 104 kg Sam was a strong athlete renowned for his leaping and rebounding ability, skill of taking the ball to the basket, and finishing the play. He was also well recognised for his defensive capabilities. At this early stage of his career he was working hard to develop perimeter shooting skills which would greatly enhance his game.
In 1995 Sam debuted for the Australian Men’s Team (Boomers) on their tour to Europe where the team played ten games in Holland, Spain and Portugal. Sam played for the Boomers in 1996 in Australia against the NBA Legends, Lithuania and Italy.
Sam’s abilities and skills received the ultimate recognition when he was selected to the Australian Men’s Team to play in the 1996 Atlanta Olympics Games. Sam and the team had a tremendous Olympics. They upset a very strong Croatian side to qualify for the semi-finals for just the second time in Boomer history. They went on to gain 4th place, the equal best result by an Australian Men’s Team.
In 1997 Sam was a member of the Australian Under 22 Men’s Team that won the World Under 22 Championships which were played in Australia. Leading into the World Championships the Under 22 National Team played Croatia, Arizona University and the University of Texas El Paso. Sam as captain was a key member of the team and revelled in playing at home against the best in the world. The team thrilled the Australian crowds when they won the Gold Medal.
In that same year Sam had a season of basketball in the Italian Second Division with the Rimini Crabs Club. His basketball career was skyrocketing to great heights at 21 years of age.
After games with the Boomers in 1998 against Canada in Australia and gaining the Silver Medal in the Goodwill Games in New York, Sam played for Australia at the 1998 World Championships in Greece. The Boomers finished in ninth place.
The South East Melbourne Magic Club folded in 1998 and Sam was signed by the Townsville Crocodiles for the 1999 NBL season. In 1999 he played for the Boomers in the Russian series, the Berlin Cup, the Acropolis Tournament in Greece and against Canada. The task for Sam was now to make the Boomers team for the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games.
In 2000 Sam played for the Boomers against Russia at home then toured to Europe and then for a short tour to Italy and France.
The grandest prize of all followed in 2000 when Sam was selected to the Boomers team to play in the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games. This was the greatest opportunity for Australian team players in that they were to play in front of their home crowds and families. The Boomers played in the FIBA Diamond Ball Tournament, in a game against the USA in Melbourne and a game against Lithuania in Wollongong prior to the Sydney Olympic Tournament.
In the Sydney Olympic Games the Boomers started slowly but then surged home strongly to make the semi-finals as they had done in 1988 and 1996. They were firm favourites to defeat France in the semi-final but it was not to be and the Boomers were then defeated by Lithuania for the Bronze Medal and finished an excellent 4th to equal the best ever result by an Australian Men’s team at the Olympics. Sam was now an integral part of the Boomers and his defence and rebounding were much prized by the team.
In 2001 in the Australian NBL Sam played for the Townsville Crocodiles and the Club made the NBL Grand Final, although Sam missed the finals through injury. Despite this success in Townsville Sam signed with the West Sydney Razorbacks in 2002 under Coach Gordie McLeod. He was named as Captain of the team and within two years had taken the team to the NBL Grand Final where they lost they lost three games to two to the Sydney Kings.
Sam’s career in the NBL was at great heights and in the 2005-06 NBL season he moved to the Brisbane Bullets. In 2006 he also had a season with the Basket Rimini Crabs in Italy. In 2006/07he led the Bullets to their first NBL title in twenty years. During 2006/07 he had some of his best career NBL statistics and was touted as a possible signing to the NBA as a free agent.He was that year the first player in NBL history to win the Most Valuable Player Award, Best Defensive Player Award, and to be named NBL Grand Final MVP. He was invited to a training camp by the Toronto Raptors for the NBA.
During this time his Boomers career continued when in his first representation after the 2000 Olympics he played for the Boomers in 2003 against Czechoslovakia, toured with the Boomers to Europe and was a member of the Boomers team that won the Oceania 2004 Olympic Qualification Tournament. This was followed by a gap of three years before he again played with the Boomers in 2006 as a member of the Boomers team that won Gold in the 2006 Commonwealth Games which were held in Melbourne.
2006 was also to see Sam play with the Boomers in the World Championships which were held in Japan. Prior to the Championships he played with the Boomers in a four game series and in the Stankovic Cup. In the 2006 World Championships the Boomers secured equal 10th place a shared position with teams ranked between 10th and 15th.
In the 2007/08 NBL season Sam suffered knee injuries and was sidelined for most of the season. When the Brisbane Bullets Club folded Sam returned to Melbourne to play for the Melbourne Tigers in the NBL after signing a three year contract with that Club. Mackinnon hoped to have a great finale to his career as he teamed with friend and Boomers team-mate Chris Anstey. It was not to be as Sam continued to have injuries further complicated by blood clots on the lungs. His last season in the NBL was with the Tigers in the 2009/10 season.
Sam Mackinnon had an outstanding NBL career. His NBL awards included 1994 NBL Rookie of the Year, All NBL Team in 2000, 2004, 2007, NBL Best Defensive Player 2007, NBL Most Valuable Player 2007, and NBL Grand Final MVP 2007.
He was also named the 2006 Australian International Player of the Year for the Boomers.
In February 2010 Sam Mackinnon retired from basketball.
Good friend and Olympic team-mate Jason Smith sums Mackinnon up. “Sam McKinnon would be my favourite team mate of my career with the Boomers. He endorsed what it was to be an Aussie in an international sport. He would use his incredible athleticism and power to dominate a game. He could turn a game around without scoring and when we needed a big play, a defensive stop or a score. We could rely on him to produce something spectacular that would leave your jaw ajar! He was worth the price of admission.”
Sam concludes, “For me the highlights of my career were going to two Olympic Games, winning a Commonwealth Games, an Under 22 World Championships Gold Medal and two NBL Championships. The lowlights were missing the 2004 and 2008 Olympic Games due to knee injury...2004...and blood clots on the lungs ....2008.”
During his long career Sam Mackinnon had achieved a great deal. He had played on two NBL Championship winning teams, an Under 22 World Championship winning team, a Junior World Championship Silver Medal winning team, two World Men’s Championships and at two Olympic Games. He had won many accolades and awards with his NBL clubs and the Boomers. Throughout his career he also carried the burden of many injuries that either delayed curtailed or limited his playing efforts. Despite these injuries he managed to achieve what can only be described as a remarkable career.
Sam Mackinnon (Basketball Australia)
Sam Mackinnon drives to the basket against New Zealand (Basketball Australia/Sport the Library)
Sam Mackinnon dunking the ball for the Magic in the NBL (SWISH Magazine/National Basketball League)