Headliner: Chris Anstey at the Biggest Ever Blokes Lunch in Shepparton.
Photo by
Rechelle Zammit
News cadet Jay Bryce got the chance to catch up with Australian basketball royalty in the form of Chris Anstey.
Anstey was in Shepparton on Friday, October 13, as a guest speaker at the Biggest Ever Blokes Lunch.
There, he retold NBA and NBL war stories and showed off his sense of humour before sharing a couple of beers with some locals.
Anstey said he had been involved in a Biggest Blokes Barbecue earlier in the year and felt privileged for the opportunity to get involved with the men’s health initiative once more.
Jay picked his brain about NBA pathways, the future of Aussie ball and asked him to reflect on his playing career now that he’s settled into retirement.
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Before he was winning NBA games against Michael Jordan, Chris Anstey was a kid from Melbourne with a big dream.
He got to represent his city in the NBL, playing for South East Melbourne Magic.
And then he made history.
Nowadays, it’s common place for Aussies to go from the NBL to the NBA, the world’s greatest basketball stage.
Players like Josh Giddey and Deniliquin-product Jock Landale have normalised this transition and we’ve even seen American prodigies like Lamelo Ball choose the NBL as a pathway over American colleges or other options before going to the NBA.
But Anstey was the first Aussie drafted from the NBL.
He was drafted number 18 overall in the 1997 NBA draft, representing Dallas Mavericks and then Chicago Bulls, a feat many believed to be impossible.
He then returned home to conquer Australian basketball, earning almost every NBL accolade available.
Championships, finals MVPs, MVPs, all-NBL, rebounding titles, shot-blocking titles and the list goes on.
But now, after laying down the foundations for future Aussie ballers to make it on the big stage, Anstey is hoping we can stop putting an asterisk next to their potential.
“The world has shrunk,” he said.
“There’s enough awareness (about the Australian game) and eyes everywhere, that the success comes down to the individuals, and if they’re good enough they’ll make it.
“I hate when I hear somebody say ‘I’m pretty good for a kid from the country’.
“You’re actually just pretty good.”
Anstey now hosts a variety of skill clinics for young bucket-getters and has previously done a session with schools at Shepparton Sports Stadium.
Community hooping: Chris Anstey running a session for SEDA College a couple years ago.
Photo by
Megan Fisher
When asked questions about the development of the next generation and the evolution of the game, he shrugged them off.
“If I’m honest, I’m probably not the best person to ask about that because I try not to interact with kids that are at that top level,” Anstey said.
“I mean, less than one per cent of basketball players are ever going to earn a dime from playing the game.
“I’m more interested in why the kids play the game and what they hope to get out of it, not just as a player, but in life.”
Given his lengthy list of accolades, you could forgive Anstey for struggling to name his greatest achievement.
But for him, he’s just proud he can retire without a what if.
“I achieved my personal best,” Anstey said.
“Not just as a player, but as a person, I understood what I was capable of and did a lot of things that had never been done before and I think a lot of people never really know what they’re capable of because they’re scared of trying.
“Like for example, playing in Russia.
“That certainly seemed a bit daunting at the time, but I thought I’d give it a shot and it was great.”
Anstey said the further he got from his playing days, the more his love for the game grew.
“It’s really about the people,” he said.
“The people I’ve met, both as a player, a coach and the things I do now, have made me fall in love with the game in a whole different way and it just grows every day and I just want to share that now.”
