Great career, great bloke. The NBL will surely miss him.

His MVP season in Brisbane was one the best the league has seen. He lead the best team in the league in points, rebounds, assists and I think blocks and steals, he won league MVP, finals MVP and defensive player of the year. Remarkable.

He dunked on me when he was 14 at a monday night comp in Diamond Valley. We knew back then he was going to be special! Well done Sammy & thanks for the written warning...

Well done Sammy! Could've gone again but a great career nevertheless. Far sadder than Anstey's retirement.

Was the nation's best player for a number of years and if he had a jump shot, would've played NBA for sure with his athleticism!

Those U-23 players are slowly but surely falling by the wayside. Sad - then again it was 13 YEARS AGO! Where did it go? Who is left playing from that team? Sav?

Sammy Mac - you will be missed. I remember well seeing the '93 or so CBA championship GF when Sam played a pivotal role as a 15/16 year-old ridiculous...

props to Sam Mackinnon on an awesome career in the NBL and with Australia.

Matt Nielsen is the only 'Croc' from the U23 team still playing professionally I think. Sav played in that team in their U20 campaign in Greece two years earlier.

Congrats to Sam on a fantastic career that could have been even greater if not for those pesky knees. Hopefully he rethinks and plays for the new Brisbane team next year!!

I thought that he played a great veteran's role for the Tigers this season. Knew his limitations and when to defer to others, but quietly played some very useful basketball.

Cheers Paul. I remember Sav playing in Greece - so he didn't even get a guernsey for Melb (wasn't sure). I saw the Aus-Arg game on Youtube last night and saw a very young geeky (if i might say) Nielsen on the bench...

annon- I think his game was just on a decline, still very skilled and strong but doesn't seem to be able to keep pace.

but I think the retirement of these players are great for Australian basketball. IMO this is what NBL needs.

Great player, super athlete. Had a great career in the NBL and as a Boomer. Close to getting an NBA gig, but never had a good enough jumpshot to win himself a gig.

Was it the 2004 Olympics or the 2006 Worlds where Sam was absolutely dominant? I just remember one tournament around that time where his rebounding and defence was exceptional and the Boomers would have been sunk without him.

Looks like its the end of an era as well, as Sam appears to be the last of our World Champion U23s to retire from the NBL. Can anyone help me with the entire team? I've got Sam, Anstey, Dwight, Nielsen, Trahair, Drmic, J Smith, McGregor... who else?

LA Boy, although Sam had a good season, I think you're right, it will be good for the NBL. We are hopefully just beginning a new, more successful era in basketball and we need a whole new generation of young, athletic, exciting players to sell the game. There's so many good Aussies playing over in college right now, I hope the NBL can lure many of them home once they complete their amateur career.

Beantown, the problem is that the NBL has lost so much stature that it is causing so many young Aussies to head to college.

In the past, many of those 18 to 22 year olds would have taken spots on NBL rosters, but now they are not available or are not interested. But I can't see any Ingles or Newley choosing these days to start their careers in Australia (or going back a generation, any Maher's, Bradtkes, Ronaldsons etc).

I disagree XY, I think a lot of young players went to college because at 18 or 19, only the exceptional could get minutes in the NBL these days - college gave them a chance to play against players of their own standard.

Even many college graduates seem to be short of NBL standard these days. I think these retirements will open up opportunities for younger Aussies to get their foot in the door instead of being shunted to the SEABL and then often lost to the sport.

Having said that, for those young guys, playing against a Sam Mackinnon would have been great for their development, but it is not to be.

Hopefully another crop of young guys can now step up into a league that is not quite so high in standard and bring excitement like Wagstaff, Abercrombie, Weigh, Goulding, Coenraad, Johnson etc have.

XY, you could well be right. I was simply pointing out that with so many Aussies doing well in the US college system, there should be a decent crop of well coached young athletes over the next few years just waiting to be harvested by NBL teams.

But running with your point, I suspect that many families of kids with basketball talent have taken notice of the success of Andrew Bogut and felt that the US college system might be a better career path than that of the NBL, which has been in financial trouble for a number of years now. After all, you go the US route and you walk away with a college degree, a great experience and if you're lucky, a shot at the NBA draft. Worst case scenario, you can still come home to Australia and see if you can crack the NBL.

Paul, in your last point, I'm not sure if you're referring to this 2nd tier league that has been suggested to help with a career path for young guys to the NBL? I'd like to see that go ahead, because right now, there are too many young athletes being lost to the NBL because there are better career paths in football and the US college system.