Shane Douglas Heal (born 6 September 1970) is an Australian

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 ...

coach and former player.

Playing career

International

Heal's international career highlights include representing the Australian Boomers at the 1992, 1996,

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from S ...

and 2004 Summer Olympic Games, captaining the team in 2004 in

Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...

. Heal Also represented Australia at numerous FIBA World Championships. Many consider Heal's best international game came against the USA "Dream Team" in a warm up match for the 1996 Olympic Games in

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

. The game, played at the

Delta Center Vivint Arena (stylized as vivint arena), formerly known as Delta Center, EnergySolutions Arena and Vivint Smart Home Arena, is an indoor arena located in Salt Lake City, Utah. The arena serves as the home venue for the National Basketball Ass ...

Salt Lake City Salt Lake City (often shortened to Salt Lake and abbreviated as SLC) is the capital and most populous city of Utah, United States. It is the seat of Salt Lake County, the most populous county in Utah. With a population of 200,133 in 2020, th ...

, was won 118-77 by the US, though Heal topped all scorers with 28 points including hitting 8 of 12 three pointers. Heal had a running battle with NBA superstar

Charles Barkley Charles Wade Barkley (born February 20, 1963) is an American former professional basketball player who is a television analyst on NBA on TNT, TNT. Nicknamed "Sir Charles", "Chuck", and "the Round Mound of Rebound", Barkley played 16 seasons ...

during the game with the two almost coming to blows at one point, though they hugged in mutual respect on-court after the game.

NBA

Heal had two stints in the NBA, firstly in the 1996–97 season with the

Minnesota Timberwolves The Minnesota Timberwolves are an American professional basketball team based in Minneapolis. The Timberwolves compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference Northwest Division. Founded in 19 ...

, when he averaged 1.7 points in 43 games, and secondly in the 2003–04 season with the

San Antonio Spurs The San Antonio Spurs are an American professional basketball team based in San Antonio. The Spurs compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference Southwest Division. The team plays its home ...

, when he averaged 3.7 points in six games.

NBL

Heal played for the

Brisbane Bullets The Brisbane Bullets are an Australian professional men's basketball team in the National Basketball League (NBL) based in Brisbane, Queensland. They competed from 1979 to 2008, and returned to the league in 2016. Brisbane were one of ten NBL f ...

, Geelong Supercats, Sydney Kings,

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 ...

and Gold Coast Blaze. He was a member of the Kings' 2003 NBL championship-winning team. Between 2006 and 2008, he served as player-coach of the Dragons. For the

2008–09 NBL season The 2008–09 NBL season was the 31st season of competition since its establishment in 1979. A total of 10 teams contested the league. 2008–09 league participants * On 30 June 2008 the Brisbane Bullets confirmed they would be handing back th ...

, Heal was part of the inaugural Blaze squad. He retired in February 2009 at age 38 after a 21-year career. In 440 games, he averaged 20.6 points and 6.1 assists. Heal was named in the Sydney Kings 25th Anniversary Team.

NBL team records and achievements

Brisbane Bullets

*2nd on three-pointers made (477) *2nd on assists (816) *4th on free-throw percentage (84.1%) *7th on points scored (2771) *7th on field goals made (951) *7th on free-throws made (392) *8th on steals (164) *6th on turnovers (387)

NBL league records

*First in assists per game in 1990 (8.3/24 games) *First in assists per game in 2002 (7.5/29 games) *Third in most points in a game (61 in 1994) *Third in most assists in a game (20 in 1990) *Second and third in most three-pointers made in a game (12 in 1994 and 2001)

Australian Institute of Sport

He held an Australian Institute of Sport basketball scholarship from 1987 to 1988.

Coaching career

South Dragons

On 3 March 2006, it was reported in Melbourne's '' Herald Sun'' newspaper that Heal was considering coming out of retirement to captain the

, a new Melbourne-based NBL franchise to enter the league in the 2006–07 season. He officially signed with the team on 6 April as the Dragons' inaugural captain. On 23 October 2006, Dragons coach

Mark Price William Mark Price (born February 15, 1964) is an American former basketball player and coach. He was most recently the head coach of the Charlotte 49ers. As a player, he played for 12 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA), from ...

resigned after the Dragons lost their first five regular season games. Price was replaced by Heal, who was appointed as player and interim coach for the remainder of the season. Heal took the club to the NBL playoffs in their first season, but then the team won just four of 26 games in 2007–08, including defeats in their last straight 13 matches. He was sacked by the Dragons on 1 February 2008.

Sydney Kings

On 24 February 2012, Heal was appointed head coach of the Sydney Kings for the rest of the 2011–12 NBL season. In his first game two days later, he guided the Kings to a 71–69 win over the

Townsville Crocodiles The Townsville Crocodiles were an Australian professional men's basketball team based in the North Queensland city of Townsville. They competed in the National Basketball League (NBL) and played their home games at the Townsville Entertainmen ...

. Heal was named the Coach of the Month for January of the

2013–14 NBL season The 2013–14 NBL season was the 36th season of competition since its establishment in 1979. A total of eight teams contested the league. The regular season was played between 10 October 2013 and 23 March 2014, and was followed by a post-season f ...

. In March 2014, Heal parted ways with the Kings.

Wellington Saints

Heal coached 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 ...

during the 2014 New Zealand NBL season, and helped them win the championship in his one season.

South East Queensland

In March 2015, Heal was named the inaugural head coach of the South East Queensland Stars on a three-year deal.WNBL: SEQ Stars saved but coach Shane Heal pushed out by sponsor
/ref> He was sacked in February 2016 when the team went into liquidation.

Sutherland Sharks

Heal coached the Sutherland Sharks women's team in the Waratah League for three years between 2018 and 2020. He guided them to a grand final appearance in his first year.

Sydney Uni Flames

In March 2021, Heal was appointed head coach of the

Sydney Uni Flames The Sydney Flames are an Australian professional basketball team based in Sydney, New South Wales. The Flames compete in the Women's National Basketball League The Women's National Basketball League (WNBL) is the pre-eminent professional wo ...

on a three-year deal.

Personal life

Heal's daughter, Shyla, was selected eighth overall in the

2021 WNBA Draft The 2021 WNBA draft was the WNBA's draft for the 2021 WNBA season. A draft lottery was held on December 4, 2020, and the New York Liberty were awarded the first overall pick once again in the draft. The draft was held on April 15, and televised o ...

by the

Chicago Sky The Chicago Sky are an American professional basketball team based in Chicago. The Sky compete in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) as a member club of the league's Eastern Conference. The franchise was founded prior to the 2 ...

, becoming the third Australian player to be selected in the top 10 of the WNBA draft.

Career statistics

NBA

Source

Regular season

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Playoffs

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References

External links

Profile
at Basketball-Reference.com
NBL stats
{{DEFAULTSORT:Heal, Shane 1970 births Living people 1998 FIBA World Championship players Australian expatriate basketball people in Greece Australian expatriate basketball people in the United States Australian Institute of Sport basketball players Australian men's basketball coaches Australian men's basketball players Basketball players at the 1992 Summer Olympics Basketball players at the 1996 Summer Olympics Basketball players at the 2000 Summer Olympics Basketball players at the 2004 Summer Olympics Basketball players from Melbourne Brisbane Bullets players Geelong Supercats players Gold Coast Blaze players Greek Basket League players Makedonikos B.C. players Minnesota Timberwolves players National Basketball Association players from Australia National Basketball League (Australia) coaches Near East B.C. players Olympic basketball players of Australia People educated at Lake Ginninderra College Player-coaches Point guards San Antonio Spurs players South Dragons players Sydney Kings coaches Sydney Kings players Undrafted National Basketball Association players 1994 FIBA World Championship players