Michael Kingma (born 9 August 1979) 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 court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

player.

Professional career

Kingma was born in

Manly, New South Wales Manly is a beach-side suburb of northern Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is north-east of the Sydney central business district and is currently one of the three administrative centres of the local government area of ...

, where he started his basketball playing as a junior. Kingma played seven seasons in Australia's National Basketball League, including six seasons with the Sydney Kings. He was a member of the Kings' 2003 NBL championship team, averaging 2.8 points and 1.8 rebounds that year. For the 2003–04 season, Kingma joined the

Hunter Pirates The Hunter Pirates are a defunct Australian professional men's basketball team that competed in the National Basketball League (NBL). It was based in the city of Newcastle, New South Wales. Team history The team was once known as the Canberra ...

, before leaving Australia. He briefly played in

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

and in

Leeuwarden Leeuwarden (; fy, Ljouwert, longname=yes /; Stadsfries dialects, Town Frisian: ''Liwwadden''; Leeuwarder dialect: ''Leewarden'') is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in Fri ...

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

. In 2006 he moved to Sweden to play for Sundsvall Dragons. In 2007 and 2008 he played for

Borås Basket Borås Basket is a professional basketball club based in the Swedish town of Borås. The club was founded in 1952 and currently compete in the Swedish Basketball League (SBL), the country's premier league. Borås has played in European competitio ...

, returning to Sundsvall for the 2009–10 season. Kingma played in the

Queensland Basketball League NBL1 North, formerly the Queensland Basketball League (QBL), is a semi-professional basketball league in Queensland and Northern Territory, Australia, comprising both a men's and women's competition. In 2020, Basketball Queensland partnered wit ...

(QBL) for the Rockhampton Rockets and the Mackay Meteors winning championships in 2010 (Rockets) and 2011 (Meteors). For the 2010–11 season, Kingma played for British Basketball League team Glasgow Rocks. For the 2012–13 season, Kingma played in the Netherlands for the

GasTerra Flames GasTerra is a Dutch partially state-owned company that is active in the worldwide trade and supply of natural gas. It is owned by Royal Dutch Shell (25%), ExxonMobil (25%) and the Dutch government (50%). Its history dates back to 2005, when the com ...

(also known as Donar) in the Dutch Basketball League. He had already tried out for the team in 2004. In

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fa ...

and

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

, he played for the Rockhampton Rockets, winning championships in both years. He returned to the Rockets for the 2015 season.

National team career

Kingma played in 25 games for the Netherlands national team, after making his debut on 20 August 2004 against

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...

Acting career

Outside of basketball, Kingma, along with fellow Australian basketballers Axel Dench,

David Stiff David Stiff (born 20 October 1984 in Dewsbury) is an English cricketer. He is a right-handed batsman and a right-arm fast bowler. He went to school at Silcoates School, Wakefield but later moved to Batley Grammar School. The former-Yorkshire ...

and

Julian Khazzouh Julian Khazzouh (born 23 February 1986) is a Lebanese-Australian former professional basketball player. He played in Australia, the Netherlands, Israel, and Lebanon. Early life and career Born in Melbourne, Khazzouh moved to Sydney as a child a ...

, played a part in '' Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith''. Kingma played a Wookiee named

Tarfful This incomplete list of characters from the '' Star Wars'' franchise contains only those which are considered part of the official ''Star Wars'' canon, as of the changes made by Lucasfilm in April 2014. Following its acquisition by The Walt D ...

. The players were chosen as Wookiees for their height.

Personal

Kingma has Dutch ancestors, which is why he holds a Dutch passport.

References

External links

Australiabasket.com profileQBL profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kingma, Michael 1979 births Living people Aris Leeuwarden players Australian expatriate basketball people in New Zealand Australian expatriate basketball people in the United Kingdom Australian expatriate sportspeople in Scotland Australian expatriate basketball people in Sweden Australian expatriate basketball people in the Netherlands Australian men's basketball players Basketball players from New South Wales Borås Basket players Centers (basketball) Donar (basketball club) players Glasgow Rocks players Hunter Pirates players Sydney Kings players Otago Nuggets players People from Manly, New South Wales