Shane Heal

Shane Heal
Position	Point guard
Nickname	Hammer
Height	182 cm (6 ft 0 in)
Weight	83 kg (183 lb)
Nationality	Australia
Born	6 September 1970 (1970-09-06) Melbourne, Victoria
Junior Association	Nunawading
Debut	1988
Games Played	440
Previous Clubs	Brisbane Bullets 1988 Geelong Supercats 1989-1991 Brisbane Bullets 1992-1995 Minnesota Timberwolves 1996-1997 Sydney Kings 1997 Near East BC 1998-2000 Sydney Kings 2000-2002 Andrea Costa Imola 2002 San Antonio Spurs 2003 Makedonikos BC 2003-2004 South Dragons 2006-2008 Gold Coast Blaze 2008-2009
Championships	2003
Career Highlights	Played for Minnesota Timberwolves and San Antonio Spurs in the NBA Olympic Squad Member 1992, 1996, 2000, 2004 1988 NBL Rookie of the Year 1990 NBL Most Improved Player 1990 NBL Good Hands Award

Shane Douglas Heal (born 6 September 1970 in Melbourne, Victoria) is a former Australian professional basketball player, active entrepreneur and current head coach of the Sydney Kings.

Playing career

International

Heal's international career highlights include representing and captaining the Boomers at a number of Olympics (1992, 1996, 2000 and 2004) and World Championships.

NBA

Heal had two stints in the NBA, firstly in the 1996-97 season with the Minnesota Timberwolves and secondly in the 2003-04 season with the San Antonio Spurs.

NBL

Heal won the 2002/2003 NBL championship with the Sydney Kings. Heal retired from basketball after his stint at the Kings. He later continued his career, coming out of retirement to play for the newly formed South Dragons initially as a player. This quickly changed after the coaching position became vacant and he was offered the job as the clubs player/coach, which he accepted. He was sacked from his job at the Dragons during his second season at the club, after multiple poor performances. Heal was signed in May 2008 as a player for the recently formed Gold Coast Blaze. Heal retired the second and last time, on February 14, 2009, playing the last of his 440 NBL matches for the Gold Coast Blaze and finished on a winning note, the Blaze completing a three-game winning streak despite an otherwise modest season.

NBL team records and achievements

Brisbane Bullets

• 2nd on three pointers made (477)
• 2nd on assists (816)
• 4th on free-throw percentage (84.1%)
• 7th on points scored (2771)
• 7th on field goals made (951)
• 7th on free-throws made (392)
• 8th on steals (164)
• 6th on turnovers (387)

Source: www.bullets.com.au

Sydney Kings

Heal captained the inaugural championship team.

Gold Coast Blaze

Heal returned to basketball after a short stint out of the game with the Gold Coast Blaze franchise.

NBL league records

• First in assists per game in 1990 (8.3/24 games)
• First in assists per game in 2002 (7.5/29 games)
• Third in most points in a game (61 in 1994)
• Third in most assists in a game (20 in 1990)
• Second and third in most three-pointers made in a game (12 in 1994 and 2001)

Coaching career

South Dragons

On 3 March 2006, it was reported in Melbourne's Herald Sun newspaper that Heal was considering coming out of retirement to captain the South Dragons, a new Melbourne-based NBL franchise to enter the league in the 2006/07 season. He officially signed with the team on April 6 as the Dragons' inaugural captain. On 23 October 2006, Dragons coach Mark Price resigned his position after the Dragons lost their first five NBL championship season games, citing family reasons. Price was replaced by Heal, who was appointed as player and interim coach for the remainder of the season. After multiple successful performances, his contract was extended to the end of the 2008/2009 season. However, on 1 February 2008, Heal was sacked from his job as player/coach at the Dragons after a poor season left the club struggling at the bottom of the table and himself battling fitness issues.

Sydney Kings

On 24 February 2012, Shane Heal became the coach of the Sydney Kings after former coach Ian Robilliard stood down. Robilliard took the post of Sydney Kings CEO after Stephen Dunn's departure as Executive Director. Dunn had been fulfilling the role of Executive Director in an unpaid capacity for nine months to assist the club.
Heal began his Sydney Kings coaching career with a 71-69 win against the Townsville Crocodiles on February 26, 2012.

External links

• NBA player profile
• Shane Heal Profile

Awards
Preceded by Greg Hubbard	NBL Rookie of the Year 1988	Succeeded by Justin Withers
Preceded by Mark Bradtke	NBL Most Improved Player 1990	Succeeded by Andrew Parkinson