Sean MacDonald made his NBL debut with the Tasmania JackJumpers at 21 years of age. He went scoreless in his first NBL game.
McDonald signed to play with the Tasmania JackJumpers as a development player in their debut season. McDonald saw minimal court time but was a part of the JackJumpers ‘cinderella’ season which saw them finish with a record of 17–11 and go all the way to reaching the NBL Grand Finals series before losing to eventual champions the Sydney Kings in three games.
2022/23
The JackJumpers entered their second year with most of their roster locked into multi-year deals, with the only major exits being import duo Josh Adams and MiKyle McIntosh.
While fans lamented the loss of Adams, the team’s leading scorer, coach Scott Roth swiftly replaced him with perhaps an even better talent in Milton Doyle and brought in Rashard Kelly to replace McIntosh.
With Will Magnay (5.9 points, 4.1 rebounds, and 1.0 blocks) recovering from a foot injury and captain Clint Stiendl (4.6 points, 1.7 rebounds, and 0.6 assists) sidelined from a knee injury from playing for Australia at the FIBA Asia Cup, Tasmania got off to a shaky start.
Losses to South East Melbourne (79-84), Cairns (84-106) and New Zealand (65-71) saw them sitting equal last with Brisbane three games in. In a battle for the bottom of the ladder, they defeated Brisbane in overtime (90–86) to earn their first win of the season, thanks primarily to Doyle’s 32 points and 4 assists.
Tasmania then rolled off a four-game wining streak which propelled them back into the top six and within playoff contention, where they stayed for the rest of the season.
Milton Doyle (17.2 points, 5.0 rebounds, 3.7 assists, and 1.7 steals) led the team in scoring, while Jack McVeigh (14.8 points, 4.6 rebounds, and 1.5 assists) increased his scoring for the fifth consecutive season and was the team’s best local player this season.
Tasmania finished the season in fourth place (16-12), earning a spot in the debut of the NBL’s play-in tournament.
A casualty of the regular season was point guard Josh Magette (10.2 points, 3.2 rebounds, 4.4 assists, and 2.0 steals) copping an accidental elbow to the face in Tasmania’s final regular season game against the Hawks. The JackJumpers’ leader and floor general required surgery to fix a broken cheekbone and fractured eye socket and would miss the entire playoffs.
Import Rashard Kelly (12.1 points, 6.2 rebounds, and 1.5 assists) as well as development player Sean MacDonald (6.3 points, 2.0 rebounds, and 1.5 assists) and Isaac White (5.3 points, 2.0 rebounds, and 0.6 assists), an injury replacement for Stiendl and Magnay, would fill the void of Magette during the playoffs and after defeating Cairns (79–87) in the play-in qualifier, Tasmania would face second seed New Zealand (18-10) in the semifinals.
In game one, Tasmania would struggle to score, managing only 68 points as a team, their third-lowest score of the season with Kelly (12 points) and Doyle (10 points) the only two players to reach double figures.
Doyle (23 points and 5 assists) would make sure the JackJumpers would even the series with a home win (89-78) in game two., but New Zealand were too strong back on their home floor, closing out the series defeating Tasmania by 15 points (77-92).
MacDonald would take home the club’s Coaches Award at the end of the season.
2023/24
The 2023/24 season saw MacDonald average 8.0 points, 2.2 rebounds, and 2.4 assists in 22.8 minutes of courtime. He was rewarded for another outstanding season named as the Hungry Jack’s NBL ‘Most Improved Player’.
MacDonald went on to play a key role in helping the JackJumpers in third place finish during the regular season (16-12), before going on to upset Melbourne United in the NBL Grand Final, winning the team’s first championship.
MacDonald’s grand final efforts were widely dubbed as the greatest finals campaign by a Development Player in NBL history, including being called into the starting 5 for the Game 5 decider, a testament to the faith the JackJumpers coaching group have in the young talent.
2024/25
MacDonald was elevated from development player and into the JackJumpers full roster for NBL25. In the process he also signed a new two-year contract, cememting him in Tasmania until 2026.
“It would be an understatement to say we’re very proud of Sean and his development in the last 3 years. He has embraced everything our program is about, and he is proof of what can be achieved when you buy in and put in the work” General Manager of Basketball, Mika Vukona said upon re-signing MacDonald.
Sean MacDonald played three seasons the Tasmania JackJumpers. He averaged 6.5 points, 1.9 rebounds, and 1.8 assists in 77 NBL games.
Dan Boyce is a die-hard Sydney Kings fan who grew up in Melbourne during the roaring 90's of Australian Basketball and spent far too much time collecting Futera NBL Basketball cards.
SEASON | AGE | TEAM | TEAM RECORD | GP | MINS | PTS | REB | AST | OR | DR | STL | BLK | TO | PF | FGM | FGA | FG% | 3PM | 3PA | 3P% | FTM | FTA | FT% | TS% | EFG% | HS |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2023-24 | 23 | Tasmania | 16-12 (3) | 37 | 845.0 | 296 | 82 | 88 | 23 | 59 | 20 | 3 | 44 | 80 | 111 | 247 | 45% | 54 | 122 | 44% | 20 | 30 | 67% | 57% | 56% | 23 |
2022-23 | 22 | Tasmania | 16-12 (4) | 32 | 674.0 | 201 | 64 | 47 | 19 | 45 | 16 | 0 | 29 | 55 | 77 | 190 | 41% | 36 | 99 | 36% | 11 | 18 | 61% | 51% | 50% | 14 |
2021-22 | 22 | Tasmania | 17-11 (4) | 8 | 29.0 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 7 | 29% | 0 | 3 | 0% | 0 | 0 | 0% | 29% | 0% | 2 | Totals | 77 | 1548 | 501 | 150 | 139 | 42 | 108 | 37 | 3 | 75 | 137 | 190 | 444 | 42.8% | 90 | 224 | 40.2% | 31 | 48 | 64.6% | 54% | 53% | 23 |
SEASON | AGE | TEAM | TEAM RECORD | GP | MINS | PTS | REB | AST | OR | DR | STL | BLK | TO | PF | FGM | FGA | FG% | 3PM | 3PA | 3P% | FTM | FTA | FT% | TS% | EFG% | HS |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2023-24 | 23 | Tasmania | 16-12 (3) | 37 | 22.8 | 8.0 | 2.2 | 2.4 | 0.6 | 1.6 | 0.5 | 0.1 | 1.2 | 2.2 | 3.0 | 6.7 | 45% | 1.5 | 3.3 | 44% | 0.5 | 0.8 | 67% | 57% | 56% | 23 |
2022-23 | 22 | Tasmania | 16-12 (4) | 32 | 21.1 | 6.3 | 2.0 | 1.5 | 0.6 | 1.4 | 0.5 | 0.0 | 0.9 | 1.7 | 2.4 | 5.9 | 41% | 1.1 | 3.1 | 36% | 0.3 | 0.6 | 61% | 51% | 50% | 14 |
2021-22 | 22 | Tasmania | 17-11 (4) | 8 | 3.6 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 0.0 | 0.5 | 0.1 | 0.0 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 0.9 | 29% | 0.0 | 0.4 | 0% | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0% | 29% | 0% | 2 | Total | 77 | 20.1 | 6.5 | 1.9 | 1.8 | 0.5 | 1.4 | 0.5 | 0.0 | 1.0 | 1.8 | 2.5 | 5.8 | 42.8% | 0.0 | 0.0 | 40.2% | 1.2 | 2.9 | 64.6% | 54% | 53% | 23 |
POINTS | REBOUNDS | ASSISTS | STEALS | BLOCKS | TURNOVERS | TRIPLE DOUBLES | 23 | 9 | 6 | 3 | 1 | 5 | 0 |
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In his NBL1 debut for the Darwin Salties, MacDonald dropped 30 points (7/11 from outside), 5 rebounds, 4 assists and 2 steals in a 102-89 win over Southern District. At the end of the season, he was named joint MVP for the club.
In 2024 MacDonald returned to play for Darwin in the NBL1 for a second straight season.
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