Andrew Gaze

Andrew Gaze (born July 24 1965 in Melbourne, Australia) is Australia's best known basketball player, and undoubtedly one of its most successful.

Son of Australian basketball stalwart Lindsay Gaze, Andrew began a stellar career in the NBL at age 18, being named Rookie of the year in 1984. His incredible shooting skills saw him the top scorer in the league for a total of 14 seasons. A poor athlete, Gaze combined a great three-point shot with an equally good pass. A crowd favourite, one of Gaze's trademark plays was a pass to American import Lanard Copeland for an alley oop. Playing under his father with the Melbourne Tigers, Gaze led the team to two titles and were perpetual finalists.

Gaze also excelled at the international arena, playing in a total of five Olympic Games with the Boomers and leading them to a best performance of the fourth, at the 1996 Summer Olympics. He was selected as flagbearer for the Australian team at the opening ceremony at the Sydney 2000 Games. He is the scoring record holder in Olympic competition, and second-highest scorer of all-time in World Championship play.

In 1989 Gaze played a season of U.S. college basketball at Seton Hall, where his team made the 1989 NCAA finals, losing in overtime to Michigan. He trialled with the NBA's Seattle SuperSonics, but was not offered a contract. In 1993-94 he played seven games for the Washington Bullets. He had another short stint in the NBA in lockout-shortened 1998-99 with the San Antonio Spurs, but received very little court time and was injured for the latter part of the season. He received a championship ring after the Spurs won the 1999 NBA title, although he was left off the playoff roster.

Whilst Gaze never had a steady NBA career like Chicago Bulls center Luc Longley, Gaze's superlative domestic record, not to mention an affable personality, fixed him in the public mind as the face of Australian basketball through the 1990s and early 2000s.

After the Sydney Olympics, Gaze retired from international competition, but continued to play in the NBL. On May 12 2005, he announced his retirement from the game after 612 games in the NBL and 20 years as a professional basketballer.

Soon after, he released his autobiography, 'A Kid, A Ball, A Dream', co-authored with Grantley Bernard.

He is known for his gentle, unflappable nature, prematurely grey hair, and unwillingness to slam dunk. Andrew is married to Melinda. They have four children. He also has his own brand of basketball shoes:"Gaze".

Today, Gaze has carved out a career as a media personality, appearing on commercials for Dodo Internet and commentating NBL basketball matches for SEN 1116. Also, Gaze now coaches for the Melbourne Tigers' junior basketball club. Gaze is set to appear in Series Five of Dancing with the Stars

Facts and statistics

• Record for most Olympic Games for an Australian basketballer (5)
• Second highest scorer in World Championship history
• Scored more than 16,000 points in the NBL over 16 seasons at an average of almost 34 points per game
• Received Most Valuable Player (MVP) award a record 7 times
• NBL International Player of the Year (1994, 1995, 1996)
• Australian flagbearer during the 2000 Sydney Olympics opening ceremony

Sources

• http://www.interbasket.net/players/gaze.htm

External links

• Andrew Gaze's Full Biography
• Gaze.com.au - Official Homepage
• NineMSN Story on retirement
• Follow the Bouncing Ball - interview with Andrew Gaze ABC Radio National transcript of The Sports Factor broadcast August 2005
• Gaze's NBA Statistics