'This means everything': McKay on induction

In a special three-part series, we sat down with Hall of Fame member Mike McKay to chat about basketball, life and his love for the Adelaide 36ers.

PART ONE: SPECIAL HONOUR

Adelaide 36ers Hall of Fame inductee Mike McKay said the honour of being selected this year has been ‘special’.

McKay, who played 290 of his 448 NBL games for the 36ers, is the eighth inductee into the club’s Hall of Fame, joining Ken Cole, Brett Maher, Mark Davis, Darryl Pearce, Phil Smyth, Al Green and Scott Ninnis.

“This means everything, it’s a privilege and an honour to be sharing it with the current guys that are inducted,” McKay said.

“You play basketball because you love the sport, and all the individual things are just cream on the top along the way.

“But the older you get, now that you have the grandkids and you’re being recognised by the club for your service and loyalty, it means everything.”

McKay said he found out about his honour after taking a phone from club Owner and Chairman, Grant Kelley last month.

“I think he was going to Melbourne, and he rang me and told me I was getting inducted,” he said.

“We had a chat about the old days, and he admired the way I played.

“No one let the cat out of the bag, it was a very well-kept secret, it was nice to get that phone call.”

THE BEGINNINGS

McKay wasn’t always keen to be a basketballer, and it was family influence that got him onto the court.

“It all started back in primary school where I played football and cricket and my brothers played basketball,” McKay said.

“They were short one day and I filled in for them and I thought ‘hey this game is not too bad either’.

“As I started to grow and develop my skills, you couldn’t represent your country at the Olympics in those other sports and that was something I had dreamt of as a young boy.

“So I dropped the other two and stuck with basketball.

“My brothers (Peter and David) and I, we would go out on the gravel driveway and shoot and they would beat me up, and you’d walk in with cuts and grazes, but that toughen me up.

“Peter stopped playing, but David was at Westies (Bearcats) and that’s when I went to Westies as well.”

McKay’s NBL career began with the Bearcats as an 18-year-old in 1983, the season after West Adelaide won South Australia’s first NBL championship.

“David Spear and I was in the youth program, and we would get to train with those 1982 guys and then we were fortunate enough to be there when the guys won in '82,” McKay said.

“We both were lucky enough to start playing in the NBL team the next year.”

West Adelaide Bearcats and the Adelaide City Eagles then merged to become the 36ers at the end of 1984 NBL season, with McKay making the inaugural roster.

“There were some trials, in 1985 when we were all coming together we just had some scrimmage sessions and Ken (Cole) decided who he wanted in the group after we ran up and down,” McKay said.

“From there, history writes itself.”

‘MAD MAX’ THE ROOKIE

After already having two NBL seasons under his belt, McKay was crowned the first ever NBL Rookie of the Year in 1985.

“The way they described it was even though I had played a couple of seasons, '85 was the main season I became a contributor to the league and the team,” McKay said.

“I caught a lot of players and teams off guard in that year, they didn’t know who I was and what to expect, there was not much of a scouting report on a slightly chubby kid who use to play for Westies.”

During his first few seasons in the league, McKay earnt the nickname ‘Mad Max’ or the ‘hot head’ by some commentators, most notably Brisbane-based TV caller Gary Fleet after his memorable match-ups with Bullets swingman Leroy Loggins.

“I don’t think I was that mad, I was very passionate, I suppose I might have had some crazy eyes every now and then,” McKay said.

“But in all my career I was never ejected.”

And the ‘Mad Max’ nickname had nothing to do with the hit film which was released in 1979.

“No, I didn’t have a souped-up Falcon with nitro and a big super charger on the front, it was nothing like that,” McKay said.

“It was all about the way I played.”

PART TWO: THE INVINCIBLES COMING TOMORROW