Chris Anstey

Chris Anstey
Position	Centre
Height	213 cm (7 ft 0 in)
Weight	115 kg (253 lb)
Nationality	Australia
Born	1 January 1975 (1975-01-01) (age 36) Melbourne, Victoria
Junior Association	Melbourne
Debut	1994
Final Game	2010
Previous Clubs	Melbourne Tigers 1994 South East Melbourne Magic 1995-1997 Dallas Mavericks 1997-1999 Chicago Bulls 1999-2000 Victoria Titans 2001-2002 Ural Great 2002–03 UNICS Kazan 2003–05 Melbourne Tigers (2006-2010)
Championships	1996, 2006, 2008
Career Highlights	1996 NBL Most Improved Player 1997 FIBA U/22's World Champions Team MVP 2001 NBL Best Sixth Man 2002 Australian International Player of the Year 2003 ULEB Cup MVP 2006, 2008 NBL MVP 2006 NBL Grand Final MVP 2009 Victoria State of Origin Team

Christopher John (Chris) Anstey (born 1 January 1975 in Melbourne) is a former Australian professional basketball player. At 7'0" (213 cm) his career included stints in the 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 played for the Melbourne Tigers in the Australian NBL. He retired at the end of the 2009/2010 season.

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 being ranked number 2 amongst Australia's 15 year old players. In 1994 he joined the Melbourne Tigers and was teammates with some of the most recognizable names in Australian basketball, such as Andrew Gaze, Lindsay Gaze, Lanard Copeland and Stephen Hoare. Anstey played for the South East Melbourne Magic from 1995–1997, earning Most Improved Player in 1996, 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 in June 1997. His rookie year, 1997–98, he averaged 5.9 PPG and 3.8 RPG in 16.6 MPG. The next year, 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.^[1]

Europe, Return to NBL

Anstey returned to the NBL with the Victoria Titans in 2001-2002, winning Best Sixth Man. In 2003, Anstey led Russian club Ural Great Perm to runners up in the Russian Championship, winning the ULEB Cup MVP. In 2004, Anstey signed with UNICS Kazan, and had an All-Star season, leading the team to a EuroChallenge Championship. 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. He retired in 2010 after scoring 13 points in his final game.^[2]

The "finger" controversy

Following his side's 115-112 overtime win over the Brisbane Bullets at the Brisbane Convention Centre in Game 2 of the Semi Finals on 28 February 2008, he was fined A$2000 for giving Bullets fans Josh Hanson and Scott Buchbach the "finger". He even accused them of being "sore losers" after he was given a verbal lashing by the two during the game.^[3][4] Six nights later, coach Al Westover was hit with a A$2000 fine for the same thing to the Sydney Kings fans following their 95-74 loss in Game 1 of the 5-match Grand Final Series.

Career highlights

• 1994 - Melbourne Tigers.
  • 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 (under 22) 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.

• 2001
  • Victoria Titans

• 2002
  • NBL All Star Five
  • Australian International Player of the Year

• 2003
  • Ural Great Perm
    • Runner Up to Russian Championship.
    • Russian Championship All Star Five.
    • Russian Championship All Import Team.
    • Russian Championship Best Centre.
    • ULEB Cup MVP.

• 2004
  • UNICS Kazan
    • FIBA 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 Best Defensive Player
    • 1st place NBL rankings for defensive & total rebounds, and blocks

References

1. ^ [1]
2. ^ http://www.nbl.com.au/index.php?id=434&tx_ttnews[tt_news]=15361&tx_ttnews[backPid]=217&cHash=60c5982ab7
3. ^ Heming, Wayne (2008-02-29). "Anstey fined for flipping the bird". www.foxsports.com.au. http://www.foxsports.com.au/story/0,8659,23294426-23769,00.html. Retrieved 2008-03-09. 
4. ^ Unknown (2008-02-29). "Chris Anstey has been fined $2000 for one-finger gesture". news.com.au. http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,23295643-10914,00.html. Retrieved 2008-03-09. ^{[dead link]}

External links

• www.anstey.com.au
• NBA.com Profile

Awards
Preceded by Tonny Jensen	NBL Most Improved Player 1996	Succeeded by Ben Pepper
Preceded by Ben Knight	NBL Best Sixth Man 2001	Succeeded by Jamahl Mosley
Preceded by Sam Mackinnon	NBL Best Defensive Player 2008	Succeeded by Adam Gibson

Persondata
Name	Anstey, Chris
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	1 January 1975
Place of birth	Melbourne, Victoria
Date of death
Place of death