Luc Longley facts for kids
 |
|
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born | 19 January 1969 Melbourne, Victoria, Australia |
| High school | Scotch College (Perth, Western Australia) |
| Listed height | 7 ft 2 in (2.18 m) |
| Listed weight | 265 lb (120 kg) |
| Career information | |
| College | New Mexico (1987–1991) |
| NBA Draft | 1991 / Round: 1 / Pick: 7th overall |
| Selected by the Minnesota Timberwolves | |
| Pro career | 1986–2001 |
| Coaching career | 2013–present |
| Career history | |
| 1986 | Perth Wildcats |
| 1991–1994 | Minnesota Timberwolves |
| 1994–1998 | Chicago Bulls |
| 1999–2000 | Phoenix Suns |
| 2000–2001 | New York Knicks |
| Career highlights and awards | |
|
|
| Career NBA statistics | |
| Points | 4,090 (7.2 ppg) |
| Rebounds | 2,794 (4.9 rpg) |
| Blocks | 549 (1.0 bpg) |
Luc Longley (born 19 January 1969) is a famous Australian basketball coach and former player. He made history as the first Australian to play in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played for four different teams over 10 seasons.
Luc Longley is best known for his time with the Chicago Bulls. He helped them win three championships in a row from 1996 to 1998. He also played for Australia in three Olympic Games (1988, 1992, and 2000). Later, he became an assistant coach for the Australian national basketball team.
Longley started his basketball journey in Australia with the Perth Wildcats in 1986. He then played college basketball for the New Mexico Lobos. In 1991, he was picked 7th overall in the 1991 NBA draft by the Minnesota Timberwolves. After playing for the Timberwolves, he joined the Bulls in 1994. He became the Bulls' main center during their amazing 1995–96 season. That year, they set an NBA record with 72 wins in the regular season. Longley was a key part of the team's success during their three championship wins. After the Bulls team changed in 1998, he played briefly for the Phoenix Suns and New York Knicks.
Contents
Early Life and Basketball Beginnings
Luc Longley was born on 19 January 1969, in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. His parents, Sue and Richard Longley, were both very tall. His father was 6 feet 10 inches (208 cm) tall and played basketball for Australia in the Olympics. His mother was 6 feet 4 inches (193 cm) tall. Luc has two brothers, Sam and Griffin, who are both journalists. Griffin also played basketball for the Perth Wildcats.
Luc grew up in Fremantle, Western Australia. When he was 16, he was part of Australia's Under-19 team. The next year, in 1986, he played two games for the Perth Wildcats.
College Basketball in the USA
Luc Longley was recruited from Scotch College, Perth by the University of New Mexico's basketball coach. He attended college at the University of New Mexico from 1987 to 1991. In his final year, he averaged 19.1 points, 9.2 rebounds, and 3.6 assists per game. He helped New Mexico reach the NCAA Tournament in 1991.
When he was 19, Luc played for the Australian national team at the Seoul Olympics in 1988. His team finished fourth, which was the best result for an Australian men's basketball team at the Olympics at that time.
Luc also spent time at the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) in 1986 and 1987. He trained there with other future Australian basketball stars like Andrew Vlahov and Mark Bradtke. These three players became the main "big men" for the Australian Boomers team throughout the 1990s.
When Luc returned home to Perth during his college breaks, he played for the Perth Redbacks. He helped them win two championships in the State Basketball League (SBL) in 1989 and 1990.
NBA Career Highlights
Minnesota Timberwolves Years
In 1991, Luc Longley was picked 7th overall in the NBA draft by the Minnesota Timberwolves. After some long contract talks, he finally played his first NBA game on 30 November 1991. In 1992, he played for Australia again at the Barcelona Olympics. After playing for the Timberwolves for a couple of seasons, he was traded to the Chicago Bulls in 1994.
Chicago Bulls and Three Championships
Luc Longley became the starting center for the Chicago Bulls. He won three NBA championships in a row with the Bulls from 1996 to 1998. This made him the first Australian player to win an NBA title, and he's the only one to have won three!
In the 1994–95 season, Luc played 55 games from the bench. But for the 1995–96 season, Bulls coach Phil Jackson made him the starting center. After that season, he had surgery on his left ankle, which meant he couldn't play for Australia at the 1996 Olympics.
During the 1996–97 season, Luc missed almost two months of games. He dislocated his shoulder while body surfing at Hermosa Beach, California. In an interview later, he joked that Michael Jordan started calling him after a month, telling him to get back on the court because Jordan needed someone to set screens for him!
Later NBA Teams
After the Bulls team changed a lot after their 1998 championship, Luc was traded to the Phoenix Suns. He played for the Suns for a couple of seasons.
Then, before the 2000–01 NBA season, Luc was traded to the New York Knicks. This trade was a big deal because it involved four different teams! Luc played one year with the Knicks before he had to retire. He had a problem with his left ankle that made it hard for him to keep playing.
Playing for Australia
Luc Longley first played for the Australian national basketball team in 1988. For the next 12 years, he was usually the main starting center for the team. He played in three Summer Olympic Games: 1988, 1992, and 2000. He also played in the 1990 FIBA World Championship. Unfortunately, injuries stopped him from playing for Australia at the 1996 Olympics and the 1994 and 1998 FIBA World Championships.
During his time playing for Australia, Luc played alongside many great Australian basketball players. These included Andrew Gaze, Mark Bradtke, and Andrew Vlahov.
Awards and Recognition
Luc Longley has received many awards for his basketball career:
- In 2001, he was added to the Australian Institute of Sport's 'Best of the Best' list.
- He was a part-owner of the Perth Wildcats basketball club for several years.
- In 2006, he was inducted into Basketball Australia's Hall of Fame.
- On 8 October 2009, Longley was inducted into the Sport Australia Hall of Fame. He was only the fourth basketball player to receive this honor.
- In August 2021, Luc Longley was inducted into the Basketball Western Australia Hall of Fame.
Coaching Career
Luc Longley has said that playing for the Australian Boomers (the national team) was very important for him as a player. This is why he wanted to return to the national team program as a coach. He became an assistant coach for the Australian men's national basketball team from 2013 to 2019.
Personal Life
Luc Longley was married to an American woman, Kelly Yates, and they have two daughters. In 2008, he married an Australian woman named Anna Gare, who is a former musician and a television presenter. The Longley family is well known in the Fremantle, Western Australia area. Luc has called Fremantle "one of the world's great spots."
In 1996, Luc wrote a book called Running with the Bulls. It was about the Chicago Bulls' amazing 1995–96 season. The Bulls' coach, Phil Jackson, wrote the introduction for the book.
In 2007, Luc Longley's home in Fremantle was destroyed by a fire. At first, people thought he had lost many of his basketball souvenirs. But he later said he only lost his 1996 team photo. He then bought a warehouse nearby, which his wife's father helped turn into a new home. In 2015, Luc and Anna moved to a property near the coastal town of Denmark.
In 2009, Luc Longley, who cares about ocean life, named a newly found shrimp species Lebbeus clarehannah after his daughter.
See also
In Spanish: Luc Longley para niños
