Country’s finest: We look at the top 20 men’s and women’s basketballers since the year 2000
We’ve looked at the best men and women basketball players from the country since 2000, and now it’s time to look at the best. Check out who made our list of the top 20 Australians this century.
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Last week we revealed 48 of the best men’s and 26 of the best women’s basketballers to come out of regional Australia since the year 2000.
Now it’s time to look at the best of the best!
Check out who made our top 20 list of basketballers this century.
20. Cayla George - Mount Barker
From humble beginnings in Mount Barker, South Australia, George has gone on to win four WNBL championships with two different teams (Townsville Fire and Melbourne Boomers).
She has represented Australia with the Opals on multiple occasions, including the medal-winning campaigns at the FIBA World Cup (2018, 2014, 2022) and was part of the gold medal winning team at the 2018 Commonwealth Games.
19. Adam Gibson - Launceston
Gibson had a 17-year long career in basketball before he decided to retire in May 2022.
He has won two NBL championships, first in 2008 with the Brisbane Bullets and then with South Dragons in 2009.
He was voted NBL Best Defensive Player for his stint with the Dragons in 2009, and us a three-time All-NBL Second Team player and two-time All-NBL Third Team player.
Gibson represented Australia with the Boomers between 2009-2015, including at the 2012 London Olympics.
18. Tully Bevilaqua - Merredin
Despite her short stature for basketball at 5ft 7in, Bevilaqua’s extensive career has included a WNBA championship and Olympic, Commonwealth Games and World Championship gold.
After going undrafted in 1998, Bevilaqua went on to represent multiple WNBA teams including Cleveland Rockers, Portland Fire and Seattle Storm, winning a championship with the Storm in 2004.
She is one of only four players to record at least 800 assists and 500 steals in their WNBA career.
Bevilaqua represented Australia at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing where she won a silver medal, and won gold at the 2006 Melbourne Commonwealth Games.
17. Tess Madgen - Barossa Valley
Madgen’s career in professional basketball has spanned over a decade, and it’s still going strong.
She has represented Australia at two FIBA World Cup’s, winning bronze in 2022 and silver in Spain in 2018.
Madgen currently plays in the WNBL for the Melbourne Boomers, who she had previously played for from 2012-2016.
She was voted into the WNBL First Team in 2015, and the All-WNBL Second Team in 2020.
16. Xavier Cooks - Wollongong
At only 27, Xavier Cooks’ best years are well ahead of him.
In the past year, he’s won an NBL championship with the Sydney Kings where he was also named the Grand Final MVP, voted the 2023 NBL MVP, made the All-NBL First team this year and the Second Team in 2022.
He currently plays for the Sydney Kings, who are looking for back-to-back championships this year after progressing to another grand final.
Cooks was selected for the Boomers squad for the 2019 FIBA World Cup, but was forced to withdraw due to a knee injury.
15. Liz Cambage - Eden
A controversial basketball figure, Cambage is still regarded as a dominant player on the court.
She moved to Eden, New South Wales from the United Kingdom when she was just three months old, and started her basketball career at age 10 as a way to make friends.
Cambage won the WNBL Championship in 2011 with the Bulleen Boomers, in the same year she was named the WNBL MVP, and won a second championship in 2020 with the Southside Flyers.
She is yet to win a WNBA championship through her multiple stint in the US, but has been named a WNBA All—Star on four occasions (2011, 2018, 2019, 2021) and currently plays for the Los Angeles Sparks.
14. Mitch Norton - Townsville
Arguably one of the greatest NBL players to come out of Queensland, Norton started his league career in 2011 with the Townsville Crocodiles before moving to Illawarra Hawks in 2016.
Norton won two consecutive NBL Championships with the Perth Wildcats in 2019 and 2020 after joining the team in 2018, and continues to this day.
He won gold at the 2018 Gold Coast Commonwealth Games with the Boomers, and at the 2017 FIBA Asia Cup in Lebanon.
13. Mitch Creek - Horsham
Since debuting in the NBL in 2010, Creek has made his name as one of the best players in the league.
His time with the Adelaide 36ers at the beginning of his career led to NBA opportunities with Brooklyn and Minnesota.
He currently plays for the South East Melbourne Phoenix, and was named in the 2023 All-NBL First Team.
Creek also represented Australia on multiple occasions, winning gold at the 2017 FIBA Asia Cup in Lebanon and being named in the most recent Boomers Olympic squad for the Tokyo games.
12. Jenny Whittle - Gold Coast
Whittle first made the Australian national team at just 20-years-old, following her success at the 1993 World Championships as a junior.
From there she represented Australia at the Commonwealth Games (2006), three World Cups (1998, 2002, 2006) and two Olympic Games (1996, 2000).
Whittle has won two WNBL championships in 2006 and 2008, and was named in the WNBL All-Star Five on four occasions.
After retiring from international competition in 2006, and was inducted into the Australian Basketball Hall of Fame in 2016.
11. Chris Goulding - Launceston
Since joining the NBL in 2006 as a development player for the Brisbane Bullets, Goulding has gone on to claim three NBL championships and is still regarded as one of the league’s greatest shooters in recent history.
Goulding was named the Grand Final MVP in 2018 after winning the championship with Melbourne United, who he has played for since 2015.
He has represented Australia since he was in under-18s, and was promoted to the Boomers squad for the 2018 FIBA World Cup in Spain.
Goulding won gold with the national team at the 2015 FIBA Oceania Championship and 2018 Commonwealth Games, and was also part of the historic bronze medal-winning team at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
10. Nathan Jawai - Bamaga
Jawai comes from a sporting family, with his cousins including NBA star Patty Mills, NRL players Edrick and Brenko Lee, his uncle is former Olympian basketballer Danny Morseu and his great uncle is indigenous land rights activist Eddie Mabo.
Jawai was selected 41st overall in the 2008 NBA Draft by Indiana, however was traded to Toronto Raptors where he debuted in 2009, becoming the first Indigenous Australian to play in the NBA.
After a stint in Europe, Jawai headed back to Australia in 2015 to play for the Perth Wildcats where he won the championship the following year.
9. Stephanie Talbot - Katherine
Talbot made her WNBL debut when she was just 17-years-old for the Adelaide Lightning, and was crowned rookie of the year the following year.
Despite being drafted in the 2014 WNBA draft by Mercury Phoenix, Talbot opted to stay in Canberra to play for the Capitals.
She represented multiple WNBA and WNBL teams, being named WNBL rookie of the year in 2013 and MVP in 2020.
Talbot represented Australia at the 2018 Commonwealth Games, winning gold, and at the 2018 and 2022 FIBA World Cup where she won silver and bronze respectively.
8. Brad Newley - Barossa Valley
Newley’s career has taken him across the country and across the world and is still going strong.
After his initial stint in the NBL from 2004-2007, Newley headed overseas and played in various European leagues in countries including Greece, Spain and Turkey.
Coming back to the Australian league in 2016, Newley has played for the Sydney Kings and currently for Melbourne United, but is still to claim a championship.
Newley has been a regular feature in the Australian national team, securing two Commonwealth Games gold medals in 2006 and 2018, along with four FIBA Oceania Championships.
Despite recently celebrating his 38th birthday, Newley is still playing in the NBL for United and in NBL1 for Frankston Blues.
7. Suzy Batkovic - Newcastle
Batkovic has had huge success both at home and abroad after starting her basketball career for Port Hunter Basketball Club.
She is a five-time WNBL champion, winning titles with the Sydney Uni Flames in 1999 and 2001, and with the Townsville Fire in 2015, 2016 and 2018.
Batkovic was integral for the Australian Opals in their silver medal runs at the 2004 and 2008 Olympic Games, and won bronze in London 2012.
After her retirement from professional basketball in 2019, Batkovic went into politics and was elected as a Townsville City Councillor in 2020.
6. Matthew Dellavedova - Maryborough
Dellavedova’s junior basketball career started with the Maryborough Blazers and Bendigo Braves, while he was also juggling tennis, soccer and AFL.
Despite going undrafted for the NBA in 2013 after college, Dellavedova went on to sign with the Cleveland Cavaliers for that years’ summer league before winning the NBA championship in 2016.
He moved Milwaukee in 2016, before heading back to Cleveland from 2018 to 2021.
In 2021 he signed a three-year deal with Melbourne United in the NBL, but was offered another chance in the NBA with the Sacramento Kings for the remainder of the 2022-23 season.
Dellavedova has been a regular in the Australian Boomers, winning multiple FIBA Oceania Championships and a bronze medal at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
5. Belinda Snell - Mirboo North
Basketball veteran Belinda Snell made her start in Knox, Victoria, having to travel into Melbourne every week to play.
Snell won both a WNBA and WNBL championship since her professional debut in 1998, claiming two WNBL titles with AIS (1999) and Sydney Panthers (2001) before heading over to the US, where she went all the way with the Phoenix Mercury in 2007.
She was a mainstay in the Australian national team since 2004, winning multiple Olympic medals, Commonwealth Games gold and FIBA World Cup titles.
4. Sandy Brondello - Mackay
Brondello is undoubtedly one of Australia’s best basketball exports, both for her on-court career and her coaching success.
She represented Australia at three Olympic, winning two silver medals (2000, 2004) and a bronze (1996) while also playing overseas in the WNBA.
Brondello was named a WNBA All-Star in 1999, and a WNBL All-Star twice in 1994 and 1995.
After retiring as a player after the 2004 Olympics, Brondello shifted her focus solely to her coaching career.
In 2014, she led the Phoenix Mercury to the WNBA championship, while also claiming the league’s highest season win total in the league’s history with 29 wins and 5 losses, resulting in Brondello being awarded Coach of the Year.
She was inducted into the Australian Basketball Hall of Fame in 2010, and currently coaches the New York Liberty in the WNBA.
3. Aron Baynes - Mareeba
After moving to Mareeba, Queensland from New Zealand when he was 3-years-old, Baynes was only introduced to basketball in his teens.
He earned a college scholarship to Washington State in 2006, before heading off to Europe to play in Lithuania, Germany, Greece and Slovenia.
Baynes signed for the San Antonio Spurs in the NBA in 2013, where he featured in the side’s NBA Championship season in 2014.
He moved to the Boston Celtics from 2017-2019, before being traded to the Phoenix Suns for a year and subsequently moving to the Toronto Raptors.
Baynes has represented Australia at the Olympics twice, in 2012 and 2016, but a devastating spinal cord injury ruled him out of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics halfway through the tournament.
His passion for basketball, his teammates and his country is evident even from the sidelines, where he is one of the loudest supporters.
Baynes signed a two-year deal back home with the Brisbane Bullets in 2022, but still hopes to return to the NBA.
2. Patty Mills - Canberra
The top two on this list were extremely hard to split.
Patty Mills has done so much for both basketball and for Indigenous activism, and his career almost speaks for itself.
Mills only played two years in College before declaring for the 2009 NBA draft, where he joined the Portland Trail Blazers.
His most impressive stint in the league was with the San Antonio Spurs, where he played for just under a decade and won the 2014 NBA Championship.
He currently plays for the Brooklyn Nets alongside countryman Ben Simmons.
Mills was also part of the Boomers 2020 bronze-medal Olympic squad, and had previously represented Australia at the FIBA Oceania Championship, winning gold in 2007, 2011, 2013 and 2015.
Alongside his impressive playing career, Mills has also used his platform to protest against racism and police brutality in Australia, and was subsequently named the 2022 ACT Representative for Australian of the Year.
1. Lauren Jackson - Albury
Despite all the accolades of our number 2 Patty Mills, Lauren Jackson takes out the top spot due to her lengthy career, which has picked up again after she came out of retirement in 2022.
Jackson has been recognised as one of the world’s best basketball players since she was 21, and is widely regarded as the best Australian female players to ever grace the court.
In her 20+ year career, Jackson has claimed five WNBL titles with AIS (1999) and Canberra Capitols (2002, 2003, 2006, 2010), along with four league MVP awards.
She won two WNBA championships with Seattle Storm (2004, 2010), three league MVP awards as well as various other honours.
Her number 15 jersey was subsequently retired by the Seattle Storm.
Jackson has represented Australia at four Olympic Games, and was the flag-bearer for the nation at the 2012 games in London.
After announcing her retirement in 2016, Jackson was inducted into the Australian Basketball Hall 0f Fame in 2019.
She made a miraculous comeback to the national team for the 2022 FIBA Women’s World Cup, where she helped the team claim bronze.
At 41-years-old, Jackson still plays professionally in the WNBL for the Southside Flyers.
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