No 75 SHANE HEAL
6 feet (183cm) Guard
1992, 1996, 2000 and 2004 Olympic Games
The Australian Men’s Basketball Team (“Boomers”) was playing against the USA Dream Team in a 1996 Atlanta Olympics Exhibition-warm-up game in Salt Lake City. The Americans were well in front, however the Aussies were taking no backward steps. This particularly applied to the small blond guard from the Boomers.....Shane Heal. Heal stopped, propped, and let fly with his trade-mark slingshot jumper and nailed his fourth three pointer of the match. As Heal landed from his shot the US NBA star Charles Barkley sliced under Heal’s feet as a show of intimidation. As Heal stumbled backwards and sideways he gained his feet and stood his ground as Barkley ran down the sideline. Heal lowered his shoulder and “chested” the much bigger Barkley who reacted the only way he knew how, and the two got into a push-shove contest. Things were quickly cooled down and after the game the two posed for photos together. Heal remarked. “We’ve grown up respecting those guys, but we don’t back down from anyone.” Barkley remarked. “I was never going to hit him!” For the record the Americans won 118-77 and Heal bagged eight three point baskets.
Shane Douglas Heal was born September 6th 1970 in Melbourne, Victoria. He started to play basketball at five years of age with a team that his mother and father had started at the local primary school. Shane’s dad was a “footy” (AFL) and basketball coach and had a huge influence on Shane’s early approach to basketball. As a teenager Heal played basketball for the Nunawading Club and came under the tutelage of future Australian Olympic Coach Barry Barnes. Tragically Shane’s father died in a work accident when Shane was thirteen and the next few years were difficult ones for him.
Shane’sbasketball promise was very evident and in 1986he was awarded an Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) Scholarship. “The AIS Scholarship was a real saviour for me at a difficult time in my life,” recalls Shane.
A small player....barely 182cms and 80kgs at this time.....many considered that Heal was too small to be an international player. This did not stop US Arizona University Coach Lute Olson from “offering” Heal a scholarship to his University when Olson was conducting a clinic at the AIS in 1987. Heal’s trademark jump-shot with incredible range was a phenomenon for some-one of his stature and for Australian basketball.
In 1987 Shane was selected for the Australian Junior Men’s Team and played in the Pre-World Championships and the World Junior Championships in Italy where the team finished a highly credible 5th position.
Shane left the AIS and joined the Brisbane Bullets in the National Basketball League(NBL)in 1988. From this start he went on to play 394 games in the NBL with Clubs Geelong Supercats (1989-91), Brisbane Bullets (1992-95), Sydney Kings (1997) and the Kings again (2000-2002), South Dragons (2006-08) and finally the Gold Coast Blaze (2008-09). His fifteen seasons in the NBL saw him as a NBL All Star eight times, the youngest player ever to score 1,000 points in the League, NBL Rookie of the Year (1988), NBL Most Improved Player (1990), the Good Hands Award (1990), score 61 points in a single game and captained the Sydney Kings to their first ever NBL title (2003).
Mixed in with his NBL career Heal had stints with Near East BC- Greece (1998-2000), Andrea Costa Imola-Italy (2002) and Makedonikos BC-Greece (2003-04). He was a two time All Star in the Greek League. Heal was also one of the few Australian players to make it to the NBA. Although his seasons were modest in the NBA he nevertheless with limited opportunities demonstrated again his fabulous shooting and feistiness to be very competitive in the league that very few people ever game him a chance to make because of his lack of size. He enjoyed NBA seasons at Minnesota Timberwolves (1996/97) and the San Antonio Spurs (2003).
Shane Heal was first chosen for the Australian Men’s Team (Boomers) when he played in one game against the touring Kareem Abdul JabbarAll Stars team in 1989. In 1991 he played for the Boomers against the touring Italian Club side Fortitudo-Bologna and for the Boomers when they won the Oceania 1992 Olympic Games Qualification Tournament. At the end of 1991 Heal toured to Europe with the Boomers for a ten match tour.
After aseries by the Boomers against a touring Chinese National Team in 1992, Heal was chosen on the Australian Team for the 1992 Barcelona Olympic Games. Preparation for the Olympics was very limited but the Boomers were none-the-less hopeful for a medal in Barcelona. Heal’s role was one of learning the guard role from the likes of Andrew Gaze and Phil Smyth. The experience placed him in good stead for a number of Olympic Games to come. After a great start to the Tournament the Boomers were however inconsistent and finished the Tournament in 6th place, the second best result for the Boomers to that time.
In 1993 Shane played for the Boomers against the touring Russian National Team, on the team that won the Oceania 1994 World Championship Qualification Tournament and at the end of the year on a nine match tour to the USA.
Shane played for the Boomers in 1994 against the touring USA Marathon Oil and University of Washington teams before competing in the 1994 World Championships in Canada. Shane and the Boomers played exceptionally well at the World Championships and finished the tournament in 5th place, the equal best performance ever by the Boomers at a World Championships.
By now Shane was an integral part of the Boomers and the point-guard on the team. At the end of 1994 Shane played for the Boomers in eight matches in Europe.
1995 saw Shane playing for the Boomers against the touring University of Missouri, on the team that won the Oceania 1996 Olympic Qualification Tournament and on a ten match tour of Europe.
The NBA Legends Tour in 1996 was the next time Shane played for the Boomers. After games against the touring Lithuanian and Italian National teams Shane was selected on the Boomers team for the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games.
Shane had an outstanding tournament for the Boomers in the Atlanta Olympics. He had standout games of 35 points against Brazil and 28 points against Puerto Rico. The Boomers went on the play in the semi-finals, missed a medal and gained 4th place, the equal best result by the Boomers at an Olympic Games.
In 1997 Shane played for the Boomers against the touring Croatian National Team and on the Boomers team that won the Oceania 1998 World Championship Qualification Tournament. Shane played for the Boomers in 1998 against the touring Japanese and Canadian National Teams and in the Goodwill Games in the USA. The 1998 World Championships in Greece were not very successful for the Boomers as they slipped to 9th place in the tournament.
Shane did not play for the Boomers in 1999 due to his overseas commitments, but came back to play for the Boomers in 2000 in a series against Russia in Australia. He was then chosen for the Boomers team for the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games.
The Sydney 2000 Olympics were the centre point of years of work for Shane and the Boomers as they felt confident of gaining the Boomers first medal at Olympic competition. In preparation for the Games the Boomers toured to Italy and France, played in the FIBA Diamond Ball Tournament in Hong Kong and played the USA in Melbourne and Lithuania in Wollongong.
The Boomers got off to a slow start in the Sydney 2000 Olympic Basketball Tournament but stormed home to reach the semi-finals only to once again miss a medal and gain 4th place. Shane and Andrew Gaze were two of the mainstays of the Boomers team and their backcourt combination was a challenge to all opponents. Shane scored in double figures in every game except one and had his highest scoring games against Yugoslavia (18 points) and Spain (26 points).
Shane did not play for the Boomers in 2001 or 2002 due to overseas playing commitments. In 2003 he did play for the Boomers in games overseas against Greece and in “The Greek Tournament” and “The Lithuanian Tournament”. That same year he played for the Boomers when they won the Oceania 2004 Olympic Qualification Tournament. This was also the year that he played for the San Antonio Spurs in the NBA.
Shane was named Captain of the Boomers in 2004 and led the Boomers in the Four Nations Tournament in Italy, the New Zealand Series in New Zealand, the FIBA Diamond Ball Tournament in Yugoslavia and in the Italy International Tournament in Italy. These games were all in preparation for the 2004 Athens Olympic Games.
At the Athens Olympics Shane was 34 years of age and the sense was that these Games were his last chance to win an Olympic Medal. Shane scored in double figures in every game for the Boomers in the Olympic tournament. His highest scores were against New Zealand (30) and Angola (18). The Boomers won two games from six matches and finished in 9th position. His dream of an Olympic Medal was not to be.
Shane retired from international basketball after the 2004 Athens Olympic Games.
Shane Heal will always be remembered for his outstanding performances as a Boomer. As the altercation with Barkley demonstrated he played for his country with great passion and competitiveness and along with his good mate Andrew Gaze arguably formed the deadliest shooting combination in Australian men’s National Team history. Their heroics together in the Sydney 2000 Olympics were outstanding,
Heal represented Australia at four Olympic Games a rare feat in basketball or any Australian sport. He highlighted on the international stage at the 1996 Olympics, not only for his Barkley “incident” but because of his outstanding shooting at those Games. His play at the Sydney Olympics continually set the competition alight and was a highlight of his career as he and the Boomers performed heroically in front of their home crowds. In the 2004 Athens Olympics he captained his country. He played on two Boomers teams that gained 4th place in Olympic Tournament (1996 and 2000). Mixed in with his Olympic Games representations he played in the 1987 (Junior) and 1994 and 1998 World Championships.
He sums up his basketball career, “I was lucky enough to play profession basketball in Australia, Greece, the USA and Italy and to play for my country and feel fortunate to have experienced the things that I have thanks to our great game of basketball.”
Shane Heal playing against New Zealand (Courtesy of S. Heal)
Shane Heal shooting for the San Antonio Spurs (Courtesy of S. Heal/San Antonio Spurs)
Shane Heal (Basketball Australia/Shane Heal)