Sean Pero MacPherson Cameron (born 5 June 1974) is a New Zealand

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 ...

coach and former player. A

FIBA Hall of Fame The FIBA Hall of Fame, or FIBA Basketball Hall of Fame, honors players, coaches, teams, referees, and administrators who have greatly contributed to international competitive basketball. It was established by FIBA, in 1991. It includes the " Samar ...

member, he captained the New Zealand Tall Blacks from 2000 to 2010, helping lead New Zealand to the semifinal of the 2002 FIBA World Championship, earning an All-Tournament Team selection in the process.

Professional career

New Zealand NBL

In the late 1980s and early 1990s, Cameron played for Mobil Marters Northland in the

Conference Basketball League The Conference Basketball League (CBL) was a second-tiered men's semi-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 th ...

(CBL) where he won a championship in 1991. In 1992, Cameron began playing in the New Zealand National Basketball League for the Waikato Warriors. He went on to win 11 championships (the most in New Zealand NBL history – nine as a player, two as a coach), made the league's all-star five seven times, and won the Kiwi MVP award five times. During his career, he played for 11 seasons for the

Waikato Waikato () is a Regions of New Zealand, local government region of the upper North Island of New Zealand. It covers the Waikato District, Waipa District, Matamata-Piako District, South Waikato District and Hamilton, New Zealand, Hamilton City ...

franchise (played under all three names – Warriors, Titans and Pistons) and seven seasons for the Auckland Rebels.

Australian NBL

Cameron played five seasons in the Australian National Basketball League, two for the

New Zealand Breakers The New Zealand Breakers (also known as the Sky Sport Breakers for sponsorship reasons) are a New Zealand professional basketball team based in Auckland. The Breakers compete in the National Basketball League (NBL) and play their home games at ...

and three for 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 ...

. He played for both clubs in their respective inaugural seasons (Breakers in 2003–04 and Blaze in 2007–08). In a total of 130 ANBL games, he averaged 8.7 points, 4.2 rebounds and 2.0 assists per game.

Overseas

Cameron played six and a half seasons overseas; one for the Ipoh Red Eagles of Malaysia in 1995–96, four for the Chester Jets of England, one for

Banvit Banvit is a feed and poultry producer based in Bandırma, Turkey. Business and activities Starting as a feed producer in 1968, Banvit gradually moved into the production of broiler chickens. Today Banvit has the country's largest single broiler ...

of Turkey in 2005–06, and half a season playing for Mahram Tehran of Iran in 2007.

National team career

Cameron was first selected for the

Tall Blacks The New Zealand men's national basketball team is the senior men's national basketball team of New Zealand. The team is nicknamed the Tall Blacks. The ''Tall Blacks'' name is one of many New Zealand national team nicknames related to the All ...

in 1994. In 2000, for the Sydney Olympics, he became co-

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

of the side, and was elevated to sole captain the following year. His most memorable moment as captain of the Tall Blacks came in 2002 when the team stunned the basketball world by making the semi-finals of the 2002 FIBA World Championship, eventually losing to Germany for fourth place. In the tournament, Cameron averaged 14.7 points, 5.0 rebounds and 3.6 assists per game and became the only non-

NBA The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United St ...

player to make the All-Tournament Team. He was joined on this team by established NBA superstars

Dirk Nowitzki Dirk Werner Nowitzki (, ; born June 19, 1978) is a German former professional basketball player who is a special advisor for the Dallas Mavericks of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Listed at , he is widely regarded as one of the gre ...

and Peja Stojaković and NBA rookies-to-be Yao Ming and

Manu Ginóbili Emanuel David Ginóbili Maccari (, , ; born 28 July 1977) is an Argentine former professional basketball player. Over a 23-year professional career, he became one of only two players (along with Bill Bradley) to have won a EuroLeague title, an ...

. Cameron retired from international duties having played in two

Summer Olympic Games The Summer Olympic Games (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques d'été), also known as the Games of the Olympiad, and often referred to as the Summer Olympics, is a major international multi-sport event normally held once every four years. The inau ...

(

Sydney 2000 The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad and also known as Sydney 2000 (Dharug: ''Gadigal 2000''), the Millennium Olympic Games or the Games of the New Millennium, was an international multi-sport event held from 1 ...

and Athens 2004) and three FIBA World Cups (

2002 File:2002 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 2002 Winter Olympics are held in Salt Lake City; Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and her daughter Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon die; East Timor gains East Timor independence, indepe ...

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 ...

). In August 2017, Cameron became the first New Zealander to be inducted into the

as a player, with the official ceremony occurring on 30 September 2017 in Switzerland.

Coaching career

Cameron began his

coaching Coaching is a form of development in which an experienced person, called a ''coach'', supports a learner or client in achieving a specific personal or professional goal by providing training and guidance. The learner is sometimes called a ''coa ...

career with the

Wellington Saints The Wellington Saints are a New Zealand basketball team based in Wellington. The Saints compete in the National Basketball League (NBL) and play their home games at TSB Bank Arena. Team history The Wellington Saints were founded in 1981. In 1 ...

, going on to lead the club to a sixth NBL championship and winning the Coach of the Year award in his first year. He led the Saints to a second consecutive championship in

2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...

and subsequently joined the Gold Coast Blaze's coaching staff as an assistant in 2011–12. In June 2011, Cameron was named an assistant coach of the Tall Blacks. After two more seasons as the Saints' head coach, Cameron joined his beloved Waikato Pistons as the team's head coach/player development manager for the 2014 season. However, in November 2014, the Pistons pulled out of the 2015 season due to financial reasons and he subsequently returned to the Saints head coaching position on a one-year deal on 14 January 2015. On 9 December 2015, Cameron joined the Gold Coast Rollers as the men's team head coach for the 2016 Queensland Basketball League season. He continued on as coach of the Rollers in 2017. In December 2019, after eight years of being an assistant, Cameron was appointed head coach of the Tall Blacks. In September 2021, he was reappointed Tall Blacks coach for three years. In October 2021, Cameron signed a one-year deal to be director of basketball for the

Taranaki Airs The Taranaki Airs are a New Zealand basketball team based in New Plymouth. The Airs compete in the National Basketball League (NBL) and play their home games at TSB Stadium. For sponsorship reasons, they are known as the Steelformers Airs. T ...

. He also served as the team's assistant coach in

2022 File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; 2022 Sri Lankan protests, Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretari ...

. In December 2022, Cameron was appointed assistant coach of the

Brisbane Bullets The Brisbane Bullets are an Australian professional men's basketball team in the National Basketball League (Australia), National Basketball League (NBL) based in Brisbane, Brisbane, Queensland. They competed from 1979 to 2008, and returned to th ...

for the rest of the

2022–23 NBL season The 2022–23 NBL season was the 45th season of the National Basketball League since its establishment in 1979. A total of ten teams contested in the 2022–23 season. Australian broadcast rights to the season are held by ESPN in the second sea ...

Personal life

Cameron's mother, Mata, from the

Māori Māori or Maori can refer to: Relating to the Māori people * Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group * Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand * Māori culture * Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the C ...

Ngāpuhi Ngāpuhi (or Ngā Puhi) is a Māori iwi associated with the Northland region of New Zealand and centred in the Hokianga, the Bay of Islands, and Whangārei. According to the 2018 New Zealand census, the estimated population of Ngāpuhi is 165, ...

iwi Iwi () are the largest social units in New Zealand Māori society. In Māori roughly means "people" or "nation", and is often translated as "tribe", or "a confederation of tribes". The word is both singular and plural in the Māori language, an ...

, is an ex-New Zealand representative and a long-time coach of New Zealand age groups. His father is Scottish. His sister, Jody, is a former Tall Fern, and represented New Zealand at the Olympic Games in Athens 2004. His brother, Ray, is a former Waikato Titans/Pistons player. His other sisters, Jeannie and Zeta, also played basketball at a high level. Cameron and his wife Jennelle have three children. His sons, Tobias and Flynn, were part of the NZ Junior Tall Blacks team that competed at the

2017 FIBA Under-19 Basketball World Cup The 2017 FIBA Under-19 Basketball World Cup (Arabic: 2017 كأس العالم لكرة السلة تحت 19 سنة فيبا) was the 13th edition of the FIBA Under-19 Basketball World Cup, the biennial international men's youth basketball champi ...

Honours

* FIBA World Cup's All-Tournament Team –

* Maori Sportsman of the Year – 2002 * Sparc Leadership Award – 2003 *

Commonwealth Games The Commonwealth Games, often referred to as the Friendly Games or simply the Comm Games, are a quadrennial international multi-sport event among athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations. The event was first held in 1930, and, with the exce ...

–

Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit The New Zealand Order of Merit is an order of merit in the New Zealand royal honours system. It was established by royal warrant on 30 May 1996 by Elizabeth II, Queen of New Zealand, "for those persons who in any field of endeavour, have ren ...

, for services to basketball – 2011 Queen's Birthday Honours. * Inducted into

– 2017

References

External links

FIBA ProfileFIBA Hall of Fame ProfileCameron's 300-game milestone
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cameron, Pero 1974 births Living people 2002 FIBA World Championship players 2006 FIBA World Championship players 2010 FIBA World Championship players Auckland Stars players Bandırma B.İ.K. players Basketball players at the 2000 Summer Olympics Basketball players at the 2004 Summer Olympics Basketball players at the 2006 Commonwealth Games Cheshire Jets players Commonwealth Games medallists in basketball Commonwealth Games silver medallists for New Zealand FIBA Hall of Fame inductees Mahram Tehran BC players Members of the New Zealand Order of Merit New Zealand expatriate basketball people in Australia New Zealand expatriate basketball people in England New Zealand expatriate basketball people in Iran New Zealand expatriate basketball people in Malaysia New Zealand expatriate basketball people in Turkey New Zealand Māori sportspeople New Zealand men's basketball players Olympic basketball players of New Zealand People educated at Whangarei Boys' High School Power forwards (basketball) Sportspeople from Tokoroa Waikato Pistons players Waikato Titans players