Luc Longley AM was inducted into the Sport Australia Hall of Fame in 2009 as an Athlete Member for his contribution to the sport of basketball.

Longley was the first Australian to play in the NBA after he was chosen by the Minnesota Timberwolves with the seventh overall pick in 1991 NBA Draft.

Two years later he was traded to the Chicago Bulls where he found himself playing alongside greats like Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen and part of a line-up which won three consecutive NBA Championships in 1996-7-8

He retired from the NBA in 2001 having played 567 games.

Longley represented Australia in three Olympic Games (1988, ’92 and 2000), with two of those sides (’88 and 2000) finishing fourth, the highest placing Australia has achieved.

Luc Longley’s ability was apparent from an early age. At 16 he was a member of the Australian Under-19 side and the following year began his senior career with the Perth Wildcats. At 19 he was a member of the national team for the Seoul Olympics.

His reputation was such that when he opted to move to the USA he was taken by the Timberwolves at number seven in the 1991 NBA draft.

After his retirement from the NBA he returned to Perth to become part-owner of the Perth Wildcats and an ambassador for the “Be Active” program of the WA Department of Youth, Recreation and Sport.

Honors and Achievements

• 1989: Won the Australian International Player of the Year Award (Gaze Medal)
• 2001: Inducted into the AIS “Best of the Best”
• 2006: Inducted into the Australian Basketball Hall of Fame
• 2019: Made a Member of the Order of Australia