The 2019 Basketball Australia Awards night will see eight people across the Contributor, Official and Player categories inducted into the Australian Basketball Hall of Fame on May 10 in Melbourne.
Australia’s most decorated basketballer, Lauren Jackson owns an incredible resumé at home, abroad and internationally. Born to parents that both played for Australia, Jackson carved out her own career by winning six WNBL Championships, two WNBA Championships and 3 EuroLeague Championships. She was named WNBL MVP and Grand Final MVP four times each, was a three-time MVP in the WNBA and a seven-time All-WNBA First Team nominee while clocking up 16 All-Star nominations across the WNBL, WNBA and Europe. As a member of the Opals, Jackson was just as prolific. She claimed an Olympic bronze medal (2012), three Olympic silver medals (2000, 2004, 2008), two World Championship bronze medals (1998, 2002), a World Championship gold (2006) and a Commonwealth Games gold (2006) across 220 games for Australia while she retired as the all-time leading points scorer in Olympic women’s basketball history.
Beginning his career in the Northern Beaches area of Sydney, Brad Dalton went on to feature in 290 NBL games for the City of Sydney Astronauts, West Adelaide Bearcats (where he won the 1982 Championship), Sydney Supersonics, Geelong Supercats and Sydney Kings.
In 1983, the power forward represented Australia at the World Junior Championships and then competed at two Olympics (1984, 1988) and two World Championships (1982, 1986). In 1989 Brad played for the ‘Boomers‘ against the Kareem Abdul-Jabbar team and then toured and played 14 games in the USA and Argentina. Brad’s passion for the game of basketball has kept him in the sport following his playing career. Since stepping down from being a player, he has concentrated on his coaching of juniors, mainly through his involvement with schools and the Manly Basketball Association.
Lorraine Landon has been a key contributor to New South Wales and Australian basketball for over 30 years. After serving her local club, Bankstown, as a player, coach and administrator, Landon became manager of the Sydney Kings and Flames in 1989 and was the first female to concurrently manage teams in the WNBL and NBL. Nationally, Landon was the Opals’ team manager at the 1984 and 1988 Olympics as well as the 1986 World Championships while also holding the position of Head of Delegation for four junior FIBA World Championships.
At the 2000 Olympics, she was appointed competition manager for basketball (both male and female) and at the 2000 Paralympics, she was the competition manager for athletes with a physical and intellectual disability. Landon has served on national and international basketball bodies for 30 years, including as Vice President of the FIBA women’s commission, board member of Basketball NSW and as General Manager, Teams and Competition for Basketball Australia.
The presentation of the Andrew Gaze, Robyn Maher, Sandy Blythe and Sue Hobbs medals for the best Australian Boomers, Chemist Warehouse Opals, Rollers and Gliders players will also be conducted on the night.
The 2019 Australian Basketball Hall of Fame Class:
PLAYERS
Lauren Jackson AO
Troy Sachs OAM
Allison Tranquilli
Lanard Copeland
Bradley Dalton
CONTRIBUTOR
Lorraine Landon OAM
OFFICIALS
Bill Mildenhall
Ray Hunt