Mark Worthington (born 8 June 1983) is an Australian former professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

player who played 11 seasons in the National Basketball League (NBL).

Early life and career

Born in

Bunbury, Western Australia Bunbury is a coastal city in the Australian state of Western Australia, approximately south of the state capital, Perth. It is the state's third most populous city after Perth and Mandurah, with a population of approximately 75,000. Located at ...

, Worthington grew up in the nearby town of

Australind Australind is a town in Western Australia, located 12 km north-east of Bunbury's central business district. Its local government area is the Shire of Harvey. At the 2016 census, Australind had a population of 14,539. History Prior to Eur ...

, where he attended Australind Primary School and

Australind Senior High School Australind Senior High School is a comprehensive public co-educational high day school, located in Australind, a regional centre in the South West region, south of Perth, Western Australia. Overview The campus is made up of modern buildings ...

. He played for the Bunbury Slammers as a youth and started his career as a development player for the

Cairns Taipans The Cairns Taipans are an Australian professional basketball team based in Cairns, Queensland. The Taipans compete in the National Basketball League (Australia), National Basketball League (NBL) and play their home games at the Cairns Conventio ...

College career

Worthington played

college basketball In United States colleges, top-tier basketball is governed by collegiate athletic bodies including National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), the United States Collegiate Athleti ...

in the United States at the

Metropolitan State College of Denver Metropolitan State University of Denver (MSU Denver or Metro State) is a public university in Denver, Colorado. MSU Denver is located on the Auraria Campus, along with the University of Colorado Denver and the Community College of Denver, in do ...

under coach

Mike Dunlap Michael Gregory Dunlap (born May 27, 1957) is an American professional basketball coach who serves as assistant coach for the Milwaukee Bucks of the National Basketball Association. Dunlap is the former head coach of the NBA's Charlotte Bobcats. ...

from 2001 to 2005. He won the NABC Division II Player of the Year award in 2004–05.

Professional career

After a standout career at Metro State, Worthington made his debut with the

Sydney Kings The Sydney Kings are an Australian men's professional basketball team competing in the National Basketball League (NBL). The team is based in Sydney, New South Wales. The Kings were formed from a merger between the West Sydney Westars and the ...

of the National Basketball League, winning the

NBL Rookie of the Year Award The National Basketball League Rookie of the Year is an annual National Basketball League (NBL) award given since the 1983 NBL season to the top rookie of the regular season. For a player to be considered for Rookie of the Year, they must be an ...

in 2005–06. He played three seasons with the Kings, before signing with the

South Dragons The South Dragons were an Australian professional men's basketball team in the National Basketball League (NBL). They made their debut in the 2006/07 season and played their final season in 2008/09. The club was based at MSAC in Melbourne's in ...

for the 2008–09 season. He helped the Dragons win the NBL championship before they folded in 2009. He subsequently signed with the

Melbourne Tigers Melbourne United is an Australian professional basketball team based in Melbourne, Victoria. United compete in the National Basketball League (NBL) and play their home games at John Cain Arena. The team made their debut in the NBL in 1984 as ...

for the 2009–10 season. In 2010, he had a stint with German team

Brose Baskets Brose Bamberg is a German professional basketball team from Bamberg, Franconia / North Bavaria. The club has won the German Championship title nine times and the German Cup five times. The club currently plays in the German top tier Basketba ...

. For the 2010–11 season, Worthington joined the

Gold Coast Blaze The Gold Coast Blaze were an Australian men's professional basketball team which competed in the National Basketball League (NBL). The Blaze competed in their inaugural season in 2007–08. The club was based on the Gold Coast and joined the ...

. In 2011, he had stints with Puerto Rican teams Mets de Guaynabo and

Piratas de Quebradillas The Piratas de Quebradillas is a Puerto Rican basketball team, part of the Baloncesto Superior Nacional league. Founded in the mid 1920s, it is one of the original teams of the league. The club enjoyed its most successful era during the 1970s, ...

, before returning to the Blaze for the 2011–12 season. In July 2012, Worthington signed with Serbian team Radnički Kragujevac. He suffered a season-ending injury in December 2012, forcing him to eventually leave Kragujevac in February 2013. He played 14 games, averaging 10.2 points and 3.6 rebounds per game. On 18 July 2013, Worthington signed with the Melbourne Tigers, returning to the club for a second stint. In May 2014, the Tigers changed their name to United. On 7 July 2015, Worthington signed a two-year deal with the

. On 13 January 2016, he played his 300th NBL game. On 22 January 2017, Worthington announced his decision to retire at the end of the 2016–17 season. His 335th and final NBL game came in the Taipans' game two semi-final loss to the

Perth Wildcats The Perth Wildcats are an Australian professional basketball team based in Perth, Western Australia. The Wildcats compete in the National Basketball League (NBL) and play their home games at RAC Arena, known colloquially as "The Jungle". Afte ...

on 20 February 2017 at

Perth Arena Perth Arena (known commercially as ) is an entertainment and sporting arena in the city centre of Perth, Western Australia, used mostly for basketball matches. It is located on Wellington Street near the site of the former Perth Entertainmen ...

. Worthington was named in the

25th Anniversary Team in 2013 and the

Basketball WA Basketball Western Australia (a.k.a. the Western Australian Basketball Federation) is the governing body of basketball in Western Australia and is responsible for the development and promotion of the sport at a state and local level. History The ...

Hall of Fame in 2022.

National team career

Worthington made his debut for the Australian national team in 2005 at the

FIBA Oceania Championship FIBA Oceania Championship was the Oceania basketball championships that took place every two years between national teams of the continent. Through the 2015 edition, the Oceania Championship was also a qualifying tournament for the Basketball ...

. He has since played for them at the

2008 Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and also known as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 Na ...

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

, and four years later in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

, as well as at the

FIBA World Championship The FIBA Basketball World Cup, also known as the FIBA World Cup of Basketball or simply the FIBA World Cup, between 1950 and 2010 known as the FIBA World Championship, is an international basketball competition contested by the senior men's nat ...

2006 File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, votes to declare ...

and

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

Coaching career

In February 2016, Worthington was appointed head coach of

QBL QBL may refer to: *IND Queens Boulevard Line, line of the New York City Subway *NBL1 North, basketball league in Australia previously known as Queensland Basketball League (QBL) {{disambig ...

women's side, the Cairns Dolphins. After two seasons with the Dolphins, Worthington spent the 2017–18 U.S. college season as an assistant coach with the

Loyola Marymount Lions men's basketball The Loyola Marymount Lions men's basketball team represents Loyola Marymount University in men’s college basketball. The team currently competes in the West Coast Conference. The team has played its home game at Gersten Pavilion since 1981. Lo ...

team. In October 2019, Worthington was appointed head coach of SBL men's side, the

South West Slammers South West Slammers is an NBL1 West club based in Bunbury, Western Australia. The club fields a team in both the Men's and Women's NBL1 West. The Slammers play their home games at Eaton Recreation Centre and represent Western Australia's South W ...

, for the 2020 season. He coached them in the inaugural season of the

NBL1 West NBL1 West, formerly the State Basketball League (SBL), is a semi-professional basketball league in Western Australia, comprising both a men's and women's competition. In 2020, Basketball Western Australia partnered with the National Basketball L ...

2021 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état, coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October–November 2021 ...

Personal life

Worthington's father, Greg, is a basketball coach who has been involved with the

. His brother, Trent, played for many years with the Slammers' SBL team. Worthington and his wife, Andrea, have two sons, Taz and Axel. In August 2012, it was announced that Worthington was considering a switch to play

Australian rules football Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an oval field, often a modified cricket ground. Points are scored by k ...

for the

West Coast Eagles The West Coast Eagles are a professional Australian rules football club based in Perth, Western Australia. The club was founded in 1986 as one of two expansion teams in the Australian Football League (AFL), then known as the Victorian Football ...

. His uncle,

Kevin Worthington Kevin James Worthington (born 25 May 1953) is a former Australian rules footballer who was q prominent player at Claremont Football Club, Claremont in the West Australian Football League, WAFL and Collingwood Football Club, Collingwood in the A ...

played for the Collingwood, Claremont and

Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...

football clubs in the 1970s and 1980s.Eagles eye off Boomer Worthington
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