Chris Anstey OLY
Hall of Fame Class: 2022 Role: Player
Featuring in the Australian Boomers’ lineup throughout the late nineties and early 2000s and a prominent name across the NBL, Chris Anstey’s 16-year playing career has taken him across the globe.
A dual Olympian (2000 & 2008) and member of the Boomers’ 1998 World Cup team, Anstey was a part of the national team that achieved the Boomers’ highest Olympic Games result prior to Tokyo 2020, finishing fourth at the Sydney games in 2000. He also featured at the 1997 FIBA 22 and Under World Championships in Melbourne, where Australia achieved gold and he was named series MVP. Anstey was the 18th overall pick in the 1997 NBA draft he played 155 games for the Dallas Mavericks and Chicago Bulls.
On the national stage, Anstey is a three-time NBL Champion (1996, 2006 & 2008) and was named both the NBL MVP and NBL Grand Final MVP in two of his title-winning years, 2006 and 2008. Selected for the All-NBL First Team five times, including four consecutive years from 2006-2010, Anstey dominated the league across the late 2000s period. He was 2008’s NBL Best Defensive Player, back-to-back leading rebounder (2008-2009) and the leading shot blocker across four consecutive seasons (2006-2009). Anstey also had a stint playing in the Russian league between 2002 and 2005 and was named in the Euro League All-Star Team two years in a row (2004 and 2005).
Anstey said, “I didn’t grow up loving basketball. I didn’t know it existed. I found it when I was 17 years old. Des Middleton and his Melbourne Tigers Under 18 team not only welcomed me but taught me lessons I still carry with me, on and off the court.
“When I was young, I never believed I owed the sport of basketball anything- I was a passenger and could jump off whenever I liked. I never jumped, and I owe basketball, and the people it bought into my life so much.
“It’s an incredible honour to be inducted into the Hall of Fame and to be recognised as somebody who contributed as much as I possibly could to the sport that continues to teach me so much. Thank you to Des Middleton, Al Westover and Brian Goorjian for everything you taught me, to all my teammates for including me in your journeys, and to everyone I’ve coached and coached with for allowing me to share with you the lessons of those who have helped so many.”
