Victorian Legends Announced in 2022 Australian Hall of Fame
Three Victorian inductees have been announced by Basketball Australia to join sporting royalty in the Australian Basketball Hall of Fame, which will be celebrated at the FIBA World Cup Qualifying Melbourne game, on Friday 1st of July at John Cain Arena.
The Class of 2022 will honour influential contributors to Australian basketball on the international stage: Chris Anstey OLY, Dr Peter Harcourt and Penny Taylor OLY.
CHRIS ANSTEY OLY
Featuring in the Australian Boomers’ line up 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.”
DR PETER HARCOURT
A career that has spanned across many sporting codes and many decades, Dr Peter Harcourt’s contribution to basketball throughout the eighties, nineties and 2000s will be celebrated as he is inducted to the Australian Basketball Hall of Fame. Between 1984-2010, Harcourt was the team doctor for the Opals, Boomers and junior teams spanning 447 games, travelling to all international competitions including FIBA World Championships and Olympic Games.
As the Basketball Australia Chief Medical Officer Harcourt was monumental in establishing the Return to Play and Concussion Management policies.
Harcourt said, “being a part of the basketball family has been a wonderful and enriching experience. I am very grateful for the amazing opportunities that came my way from looking after the Opals, Boomers and junior teams. To be honoured in such a way, especially alongside such great players, is very humbling.”
PENNY TAYLOR OLY
A staple of the Australian Opals’ early 2000s success, Penny Taylor’s achievements across her 105 senior national games helped put Australian women’s basketball on the map. A three-time Olympian (2004, 2008 & 2016) and appearing at three FIBA World Cups (2002, 2006 & 2014), Taylor was a feature of an Opals team that claimed back-to-back Olympic silver medals (2004 & 2008) and FIBA World Cup glory, winning gold in Brazil in 2006. She was named the FIBA World Cup MVP in that same gold medal year. Taylor was captain of the Opals for the 2014 FIBA World Cup campaign and led the team to bronze.
One of Australia’s biggest and most successful international exports, Taylor is a three-time WNBA Champion with Phoenix Mercury (2007, 2009 & 2014). Her third championship under the realm of former Opals’ teammate and Phoenix coach (now New York Liberty and Opals coach), Sandy Brondello. A triple WNBA All-Star (2002, 2007 & 2011), Taylor also adds the All-WNBA First Team (2007) and Second Team (2011) to her list of accolades.
Locally, Taylor started her playing career in the WNBL, where she quickly achieved the WNBL Championship with the AIS and became a dual WNBL MVP across the 2000/01 and 2002/03 seasons. She also returned to the WNBL in the 2014/15 season where she was named in her third WNBL All- Star Five team.
Last week, Taylor was inducted to the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame in the United States.
The Australian Basketball Hall of Fame event will also celebrate Andrew Gaze’s elevation to Legend status.
