Christopher John Anstey (born 1 January 1975) is an Australian former professional basketball player. His career included stints in the

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball sports league, 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 i ...

(NBA), Russia and Spain. Anstey was selected by the Portland Trail Blazers in the first round (18th pick overall) of the 1997 NBA draft. He also played for the

Melbourne Tigers Melbourne United is an Australian professional basketball team based in Melbourne, Victoria. United compete in the National Basketball League (NBL) and play their home games at John Cain Arena. The team made their debut in the NBL in 1984 a ...

, South East Melbourne Magic and

Victoria Titans The Victoria Titans (known in its final two seasons as the Victoria Giants), were an Australian professional basketball team that competed in the National Basketball League (NBL). The club was based in Melbourne, Victoria. History The Titans ...

in the NBL. He retired at the end of the 2009–10 season while with the Tigers and later became the team's head coach in 2012.

Professional career

Early NBL years

Anstey took up basketball at the relatively late age of 17. Before that he was a promising tennis player, peaking at rank number 2 amongst Australia's 15-year-old players and regularly playing doubles with

Mark Philippoussis Mark Anthony Philippoussis ( ; born 7 November 1976) is an Australian former professional tennis player of Greek and Italian descent. Philippoussis' greatest achievements are winning two Davis Cup titles with Australia in 1999 and 2003, winni ...

. In 1994, he joined the

and was teammates with some of the most recognisable names in Australian basketball, such as Andrew Gaze,

Mark Bradtke Mark Robert Bradtke (born 27 September 1969) is an Australian retired professional basketball player who played mainly in Australia's National Basketball League, but also had a single stint in the National Basketball Association (NBA) with the ...

, and Lanard Copeland, as well as head coach Lindsay Gaze. After one season with the Tigers, Anstey was signed by South East Melbourne Magic coach Brian Goorjian. He played for the Magic from 1995 to 1997, earning NBL's Most Improved Player award in 1996 as well as the 1996 NBL Championship, before going to the NBA.

NBA

Anstey was the 18th overall selection of the 1997 NBA Draft by the Portland Trail Blazers. His draft rights were traded by the Blazers with cash to the Dallas Mavericks for the draft rights to

Kelvin Cato Kelvin Tavares Cato (born August 26, 1974) is an American former professional basketball player. College career Cato was an obscure player averaging six points and six rebounds at the University of South Alabama in 1992–93. At that time, he ...

in June 1997. His rookie year, 1997–98, he averaged 5.9 PPG and 3.8 RPG in 16.6 MPG. He scored a career-high 26 points against the Boston Celtics on 17 March. The

next year "Next Year" is a song released as the last single from the third Foo Fighters (band), Foo Fighters' album ''There Is Nothing Left to Lose''. History A shorter version (running at just 3:21 compared to the original's 4:36) was released as a s ...

, his numbers dropped to 3.3 PPG and 2.4 RPG. He was traded by the Mavericks to the Chicago Bulls for a second-round draft pick in 2000 in September 1999. He averaged 6.0 PPG and 3.8 RPG on 44.2 FG% in his last NBA season with the Bulls. Anstey owns career NBA averages of 5.2 PPG, 3.4 RPG and 0.4 BPG in 155 games with 23 starts.

Europe and return to NBL

Anstey returned to the NBL with the

in 2000–01, winning Best Sixth Man. In 2003, Anstey led Russian club

Ural Great Perm PBC Ural Great Perm was a Russian professional basketball club that was located in Perm, Russia. The club's home arena was Molot Sports Hall. The team played in the Russian Super League. History The club was established in the year 1995 on the ...

to runners up in the Russian Championship, and was named ULEB Cup MVP. In 2004, Anstey signed with

UNICS Kazan BC UNICS (russian: БК УНИКС) is a professional basketball club in Kazan, Russia, that plays in the VTB United League, and formerly played in the EuroLeague. On February 28, 2022, EuroLeague Basketball suspended the team because of the 20 ...

, and had an All-Star season, leading the team to a EuroChallenge Championship, the first in Russian history. Anstey was a Euroleague All-Star again in 2005. Anstey returned to his native Australia with his original team, the Melbourne Tigers, in 2006. After returning, Anstey enjoyed plenty of success, leading the NBL in blocks in 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2009; and in rebounding in 2008 and 2009; earning the MVP in 2006 and 2008; Grand Finals MVP in 2006 and Best Defensive Player in 2008. Chris Anstey retired from playing at the conclusion of the 2009–10 NBL season. In his final NBL game against 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 ...

at the State Netball and Hockey Centre in Melbourne, Anstey scored 13 points, had 6 rebounds, 2 assists and 1 block though the Blaze defeated the Tigers 91–73.

Olympics and World championships

Anstey was a member of the

Australian boomers The Australian men's national basketball team, known as the Boomers after the slang term for a male kangaroo, represents Australia in international basketball competition. Since the late 1980s, Australia has been placed among the world elite ...

, competing in the 2000 Sydney Olympics and the

2008 Beijing Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and also known as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 Nat ...

, though unfortunately he missed the 2004 Athens Olympics due to injury. He was also a member of the Boomers at the

1998 FIBA World Championship The 1998 FIBA World Championship was the 13th FIBA World Championship, an international basketball tournament held by the International Basketball Federation and hosted in Greece from 29 July to 9 August 1998. The tournament was contested by 16 ...

in Athens. Anstey won Gold with the Australian Emus at the 1997 22 & Under World Championships played in his home town of Melbourne where was named as tournament MVP.

Coaching

Anstey was appointed head coach of

Caulfield Grammar School Caulfield Grammar School is an Independent school, independent, co-educational, Anglican Church of Australia, Anglican, International Baccalaureate, day school, day and boarding school, located in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Founded in 1881 as ...

's first boys' team in 2010 and still holds that position today. His team won 3 APS titles, 2 McDonald's Cups and 1National Championship. Anstey coached the Camberwell Dragons senior Men at

Big V Big or BIG may refer to: * Big, of great size or degree Film and television * ''Big'' (film), a 1988 fantasy-comedy film starring Tom Hanks * ''Big!'', a Discovery Channel television show * ''Richard Hammond's Big'', a television show presente ...

level in 2011 and 2012, guiding them to consecutive semi-finals appearances, representing the most successful period of time in club history. Anstey was appointed head coach of the Melbourne Tigers for the

2012–13 NBL season The 2012–13 NBL season was the 35th season of competition since its establishment in 1979. A total of eight teams contested the league. The regular season was played between 5 October 2012 and 24 March 2013, followed by a post-season which invo ...

. He was subsequently re-signed as the head coach for 2013–14 for his efforts during 2012–13. On 13 October 2014, he stepped down as head of Melbourne following United's 2014–15 season opening loss to Cairns.

Career highlights

* 1994 –

. ** NBL Semi-finals. * 1995 – 97 South East Melbourne Magic. **NBL Semi-finals (1995). **NBL Championship, Most Improved Player. (1996). ** NBL Championship runners up (1997). * 1997 ** Australian National (22&U) team. *** Won world championships. *** Named tournament MVP. **Selected 18th in the NBA draft. * 1998 ** Dallas Mavericks ** Represented Australia at the Goodwill Games. * 1999 ** Traded to Chicago Bulls in the NBA's offseason. * 2000 ** Boomers *** Won Hong Kong Diamond Ball Classic. *** 4th in the

Sydney Olympics 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 ...

. * 2001 **

* 2002 ** NBL All Star Five ** Australian International Player of the Year * 2003 **

*** Runner-up to Russian Championship. *** Russian Championship All Star Five. *** Russian Championship All Import Team. *** Russian Championship Best Centre. * 2004 **

***

FIBA The International Basketball Federation (FIBA ; French: ) is an association of national organizations which governs the sport of basketball worldwide. Originally known as the (hence FIBA), in 1989 it dropped the word ''amateur'' from its nam ...

EuropeLeague Champions. *** FIBA EuropeLeague All Star. *** Russian Championship Runner-up. * 2005 ** UNICS Kazan. *** FIBA EuropeLeague All Star * 2006 ** Melbourne Tigers *** NBL Pre-season MVP *** NBL Regular Season MVP *** NBL Champions *** NBL Grand Final Series MVP * 2008 ** Melbourne Tigers *** NBL Regular Season MVP *** NBL Champions *** NBL Grand Final Series MVP *** NBL Best Defensive Player ***1st place NBL rankings for defensive and total rebounds, and blocks On 13 September 2000, Anstey was awarded the Australian Sports Medal.

Corporate

In 2010, Anstey founded the TLC Group, which comprises TLC Mentoring, TLC Management and TLC Events. The TLC Group provides services and programs to students, athletes, corporate groups and general audiences. He resigned from the TLC Group in 2014. Anstey participated in the 2012 and 2013 EJ Whitten Legends Game at Etihad Stadium, helping to raise funds and awareness for prostate cancer. Appointed Company Ambassador to La Trobe Financial in 2015

Personal life

Anstey has three children, Isobel, Ethan and Hunter. Isobel has been selected for the Australian women's under 17 and under 19 teams.

Career statistics

Player

NBA

, - , style="text-align:left", 1997–98 , style="text-align:left;",

Dallas Dallas () is the third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 million people. It is the largest city in and seat of Dallas County ...

, 41 , , 8 , , 16.6 , , .398 , , .188 , , .716 , , 3.8 , , 0.9 , , 0.8 , , 0.7 , , 5.9 , - , style="text-align:left", 1998–99 , style="text-align:left;",

, 41 , , 4 , , 11.5 , , .360 , , .000 , , .708 , , 2.4 , , 0.7 , , 0.4 , , 0.3 , , 3.3 , - , style="text-align:left", 1999–2000 , style="text-align:left;",

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...

, 73 , , 11 , , 13.8 , , .442 , , .167 , , .789 , , 3.8 , , 0.9 , , 0.4 , , 0.3 , , 6.0 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2" , Career , 155 , , 23 , , 13.9 , , .413 , , .138 , , .789 , , 3.4 , , 0.8 , , 0.5 , , 0.4 , , 5.2

NBL

, - , style="text-align:left",

1994 File:1994 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1994 Winter Olympics are held in Lillehammer, Norway; The Kaiser Permanente building after the 1994 Northridge earthquake; A model of the MS Estonia, which sank in the Baltic Sea; Nels ...

, style="text-align:left;",

, 20 , , ''NA'' , , 6.7 , , .490 , , .000 , , .737 , , 2.6 , , 0.4 , , 0.2 , , 0.2 , , 3.1 , - , style="text-align:left", 1995 , style="text-align:left;", South East Melbourne Magic , 26 , , ''NA'' , , 9.6 , , .493 , , .000 , , .607 , , 3.3 , , 0.3 , , 0.2 , , 0.3 , , 3.3 , - , style="text-align:left; background:#afe6ba;", 1996† , style="text-align:left;", South East Melbourne Magic , 32 , , ''NA'' , , 21.9 , , .607 , , .000 , , .730 , , 7.8 , , 0.6 , , 1.2 , , 1.5 , , 11.8 , - , style="text-align:left",

1997 File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; '' Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of ...

, style="text-align:left;", South East Melbourne Magic , 33 , , 33 , , 30.5 , , .479 , , .154 , , .675 , , 9.8 , , 0.8 , , 1.6 , , 1.8 , , 13.8 , - , style="text-align:left", 2000–01 , style="text-align:left;",

, 28 , , 28 , , 26.1 , , .499 , , .240 , , .718 , , 9.4 , , 0.9 , , 0.8 , , 2.0 , , 16.4 , - , style="text-align:left", 2001–02 , style="text-align:left;",

, 34 , , 34 , , 31.3 , , .480 , , .160 , , .751 , , 10.5 , , 1.3 , , 1.4 , , 1.3 , , 16.8 , - , style="text-align:left; background:#afe6ba;", 2005–06† , style="text-align:left;",

, 37 , , 37 , , 39.2 , , .455 , , .359 , , .741 , , 10.0 , , 3.8 , , 1.1 , , 2.1 , , 22.5 , - , style="text-align:left", 2006–07 , style="text-align:left;",

, 38 , , 38 , , 34.8 , , .438 , , .229 , , .808 , , 9.3 , , 2.8 , , 1.2 , , 1.8 , , 19.4 , - , style="text-align:left; background:#afe6ba;", 2007–08† , style="text-align:left;",

, 37 , , 37 , , 35.6 , , .480 , , .311 , , .771 , , 11.6 , , 2.6 , , 1.5 , , 2.0 , , 21.8 , - , style="text-align:left", 2008–09 , style="text-align:left;",

, 35 , , 35 , , 35.8 , , .433 , , .250 , , .743 , , 10.5 , , 2.1 , , 1.6 , , 1.6 , , 18.6 , - , style="text-align:left", 2009–10 , style="text-align:left;",

, 16 , , ''NA'' , , 23.5 , , .352 , , .268 , , .761 , , 9.8 , , 1.9 , , 0.8 , , 0.7 , , 9.8 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2" , Career , 336 , , ''NA'' , , 28.4 , , .468 , , .303 , , .744 , , 8.8 , , 1.7 , , 1.1 , , 1.5 , , 15.5

Coach

NBL

, - , align="left" ,

, align="left" , 2012–13 , 28, , 12, , 16, , , , align="center" , 5th , , —, , —, , —, , — , align="center" , Missed playoffs , - , align="left" ,

, align="left" , 2013–14 , 28, , 15, , 13, , , , align="center" , 3rd , , 3, , 1, , 2, , , align="center" , Semi-finalists , - , align="left" , Melbourne United , align="left" , 2014–15 , 1, , 0, , 1, , , , align="center" , , , , , , , , , , align="center" , , -class="sortbottom" , align="left" , Career , , , 57, , 27, , 20, , , , , , 3, , 1, , 2, ,

References

External links

Eurobasket.com Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Anstey, Chris 1975 births Living people Australian expatriate basketball people in Russia Australian expatriate basketball people in Spain Australian expatriate basketball people in the United States Basketball players at the 2000 Summer Olympics Basketball players at the 2008 Summer Olympics Basketball players from Melbourne Centers (basketball) Chicago Bulls players Dallas Mavericks players Liga ACB players Melbourne Tigers players Melbourne United coaches National Basketball League (Australia) coaches National Basketball Association players from Australia Australian men's basketball players Olympic basketball players of Australia PBC Ural Great players Portland Trail Blazers draft picks Real Betis Baloncesto players Recipients of the Australian Sports Medal South East Melbourne Magic players Victoria Titans players 1998 FIBA World Championship players Competitors at the 1998 Goodwill Games