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Andrew Parkinson played 10 seasons in the NBL, debuting with the Geelong Supercats (1988–1990) before relocating to Melbourne where he would win the league’s Most Improved Player award in 1991 after averaging 21 points, 4 rebounds and 2 assists per game with the Southern Melbourne Saints.
This breakout season also resulted in him being a part of the 1991 NBL All-Star game and the Boomers squad during preparations for the 1992 Olympics.
In 1992 the Saints merged with cross-town rivals the Eastside Spectres and formed the South East Melbourne Magic where “Parky” played from 1992 to 1998, winning NBL championships in 1992 and 1996.
Parky also led the NBL in free throw percentage in 1992.
Parkinson retired for the NBL after injury and the team merged with the North Melbourne Giants to become the Victoria Titans.
Now he faces a battle with an opponent much greater than Andrew Gaze and the Melbourne Tigers.
In September 2019, Parky was diagnosed with small cell carcinoma (SSC) of the bladder, a highly malignant and fast-growing cancer.
Having it in the bladder is extremely rare but initial tests have shown cancer has not spread as yet and currently he is battling with only the one tumour.
Parky is still undergoing regular bouts of chemotherapy but with a positive attitude and mental toughness continues to play basketball in his local competition.
Parky gives us an update on his condition and takes us through NBL championship years with the South East Melbourne Magic.
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Topics discussed on the podcast include;
- Playing basketball as a junior with Knox and Dandenong basketball associations (2:00)
- Becoming one of the first Australia’s to attend an NCAA basketball program (10:00)
- A rookie season with Geelong Supercats (11:30)
- A breakout season in 1991 which resulted in the NBL Most Improved Player (18:00)
- Being a part of the Australia Boomers program in 1992 (22:00)
- Playing for the now-defunct Southern Melbourne Saints (26:30)
- Parky’s current battle with bladder cancer (30:00)
- How much did the Magic and Tigers hate each other back in the day (36:00)
- The Spectres merge with the Saints and win the 1992 NBL championship as the South East Melbourne Magic (41:00)
- What Brian Goorjian’s gruelling training sessions were like (43:00)
- Why Robert Rose was the best import Parky ever played with (54:00)
- The road to the 1992 NBL Championship (56:00)
- A second Magic championship in 1996 (58:00)
- Did the Magic underachieve by only winning two titles? (105:00)
- What forced Parky into an early retirement (109:00)
- The biggest mistake of Parky’s career and what he learned from it (1:14:00)
- The highlight of his career and is Parky’s “masters” basketball team the greatest of all time (1:19:00)
All of this and a whole lot more…
| PLAYER EFFICIENCY RATING EXPLAINED | |
|---|---|
The Player efficiency rating (PER) is ESPN Insider John Hollinger's all-in-one basketball rating, which attempts to boil down all of a player’s contributions into one number. Using a detailed formula, Hollinger developed a system that rates every player’s statistical performance. | Top 2 MVP Candidate: 30.0 |
| Top 5 MVP Candidate: 27.5 | |
| Top 10 MVP Candidate: 25.0 | |
| All-Star Calliber: 22.5 | |
| Borderline All-Star: 20.0 | |
| Solid 2nd option: 18.0 | |
| 3rd Banana: 16.0 | |
| Pretty good player: 14.0 | |
| In the rotation: 13.0 | |
| Scrounging for minutes: 11.0 | |
| Definitely renting: 9.0 | |
| The Next Stop: DLeague 5.0 | |