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| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born | (1965-10-15)15 October 1965 (age 60) Adelaide,South Australia, Australia |
| Listed height | 193 cm (6 ft 4 in) |
| Listed weight | 92 kg (203 lb) |
| Career information | |
| Playing career | 1983–2000 |
| Position | Shooting guard /small forward |
| Career history | |
| 1983–1984 | West Adelaide Bearcats |
| 1985–1995 | Adelaide 36ers |
| 1996–1997 | Brisbane Bullets |
| 1998–1999 | Canberra Cannons |
| 1999–2000 | Wollongong Hawks |
| Career highlights | |
Michael George McKay (born 15 October 1965) is an Australian former professional basketball player. He played most of his career with theAdelaide 36ers of theNational Basketball League (NBL), winning the 1986 championship with the team. McKay also played in the NBL for theWest Adelaide Bearcats (with whom he started his NBL career in 1983),Brisbane Bullets,Canberra Cannons and theWollongong Hawks. He was a frequent member of theAustralia men's national basketball team during the late 1980s and early 1990s, including being part of the national team at the1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona.
Mike McKay started his professional career with theWest Adelaide Bearcats in 1983. Along with fellow Bearcat playersAl Green,Peter Ali and veteran guard Ray Wood, the then 19-year-old joined the Adelaide 36ers in 1985 after the Bearcats pulled out of the NBL at the end of 1984. Under the coaching of his former Bearcats coachKen Cole, McKay helped the 36ers to its first Grand Final appearance where they lost to theBrisbane Bullets. McKay played in all 28 games in 1985, averaging 12.9 points, 3.4 rebounds and 1.3 assists. McKay won theNBL's Rookie of the Year award despite already having played in the NBL for two previous seasons.
The 36ers would win their first NBL championship in 1986. After compiling a 24–2 record during the regular season, including going 13–0 atApollo Stadium (the first NBL side to go through a regular season unbeaten at home), the 36ers would reverse the 1985 GF result with a three-game series win over the Bullets. Game 2 of the series saw Adelaide's only defeat of the season at home with the Bullets pulling off an upset 104–83 win. McKay suffered a serious knee injury during the year and was forced to miss about 10 weeks.
Early on, McKay earned the nickname "Mad Max" for sometimes not being able to control his emotions on the basketball court (he was labelled a 'hot head' by some commentators, most notably byBrisbane based television commentator Gary Fleet after his clashes withLeroy Loggins during the 1986 Grand Final series).
McKay would continue to be a star performer for the 36ers until the end of the 1995 NBL season, playing in losing semi-finals in 1987 (Perth Wildcats), 1988 (Canberra Cannons), 1989 (Perth) as well as 1991 and 1995 (Perth), as well as the losing 1994 GF Series against theNorth Melbourne Giants. With two years still left on his contract, McKay was released by the 36ers at the end of 1995 and he joined the Brisbane Bullets in 1996 where he would win the NBL's inauguralBest Sixth Man award in his first year away from Adelaide. He played two seasons with the Bullets before moving on to two years with the Canberra Cannons (1998–99). After the 1999–2000 NBL season with theWollongong Hawks, McKay retired from the NBL having played 448 games and averaging 12.7 points during his career.[1]
Mike McKay first won selection for theAustralian Boomers in 1989 and went on to represent his country at the1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, Spain. He was also a member of the Boomers who reached the quarter-finals at both the1990 and1994FIBA Basketball World Cup, finishing 7th in 1990 inArgentina and 5th in 1994 in Canada.[2]
Starting in the2012-13 NBL season, Mike McKay is an expert commentator for the NBL's online game streaming subscription service NBL.TV at Adelaide 36ers home games at theAdelaide Arena.
As of 2016 Mike McKay still lives in Adelaide where he is the Accounts Manager for the Workwear Group.[3]
| GP | Games played | GS | Games started | MPG | Minutes per game |
| FG% | Field goal percentage | 3P% | 3-point field goal percentage | FT% | Free throw percentage |
| RPG | Rebounds per game | APG | Assists per game | SPG | Steals per game |
| BPG | Blocks per game | PPG | Points per game | Bold | Career high |
| † | Denotes season(s) in which McKay won anNBL championship |
| Year | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1983 | West Adelaide Bearcats | 20 | 0 | NA | .390 | NA | .600 | 0.6 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.0 | 1.9 |
| 1984 | West Adelaide Bearcats | 18 | 0 | NA | .391 | .188 | .733 | 2.7 | 1.2 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 6.8 |
| 1985 | Adelaide 36ers | 28 | 0 | NA | .492 | .472 | .590 | 3.4 | 1.3 | 0.9 | 0.1 | 12.9 |
| 1986† | Adelaide 36ers | 30 | 1 | NA | .465 | .447 | .750 | 2.3 | 1.2 | 0.6 | 0.4 | 13.6 |
| 1987 | Adelaide 36ers | 26 | NA | 27.3 | .422 | .363 | .709 | 3.1 | 1.6 | 1.0 | 0.2 | 14.9 |
| 1988 | Adelaide 36ers | 20 | NA | 16.8 | .398 | .356 | .838 | 1.9 | 1.4 | 0.8 | 0.1 | 9.4 |
| 1989 | Adelaide 36ers | 26 | NA | 28.4 | .396 | .321 | .753 | 2.9 | 2.9 | 1.2 | 0.4 | 13.5 |
| 1990 | Adelaide 36ers | 24 | NA | NA | .457 | .470 | .686 | 2.5 | 3.2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 13.7 |
| 1991 | Adelaide 36ers | 28 | NA | 31.8 | .498 | .457 | .840 | 3.0 | 3.4 | 1.3 | 0.2 | 19.6 |
| 1992 | Adelaide 36ers | 24 | 24 | 38.1 | .390 | .373 | .800 | 4.3 | 3.0 | 1.3 | 0.1 | 18.5 |
| 1993 | Adelaide 36ers | 28 | 28 | 41.0 | .397 | .389 | .789 | 6.0 | 3.5 | 1.3 | 0.1 | 13.8 |
| 1994 | Adelaide 36ers | 31 | NA | 23.8 | .398 | .356 | .742 | 3.5 | 2.4 | 0.9 | 0.1 | 8.2 |
| 1995 | Adelaide 36ers | 25 | 0 | 23.2 | .373 | .347 | .762 | 2.0 | 1.8 | 0.6 | 0.1 | 7.1 |
| 1996 | Brisbane Bullets | 29 | NA | 36.0 | .433 | .379 | .821 | 4.1 | 2.8 | 0.9 | 0.1 | 17.6 |
| 1997 | Brisbane Bullets | 7 | NA | 35.2 | .439 | .281 | 1.000 | 5.0 | 2.7 | 0.9 | 0.9 | 18.6 |
| 1998 | Canberra Cannons | 30 | 30 | 38.9 | .458 | .476 | .904 | 3.7 | 2.4 | 0.9 | 0.1 | 15.0 |
| 1998–99 | Canberra Cannons | 26 | 26 | 41.9 | .414 | .373 | .803 | 4.3 | 3.3 | 0.8 | 0.2 | 17.2 |
| 1999–2000 | Wollongong Hawks | 28 | NA | 20.4 | .346 | .317 | .955 | 1.9 | 1.5 | 0.4 | 0.0 | 5.5 |
| Career | 448 | NA | NA | .428 | .389 | .788 | 3.2 | 2.2 | 0.9 | 0.2 | 12.7 | |