“The trash Gary Payton was saying to me, it was laughable, like I’m going to kill you after the game… literally, just silly stuff. I guess when I asked if there was a hole in ‘the Glove’ he didn’t appreciate it” – Shane Heal sharing Trash Talking stories of when he went head to head with Gary Payton in the Olympics.
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In this episode of the Aussie Hoopla podcast we interview the greatest three-point shooter in Australian history Shane Heal, the bleached blonde, pierced and tattoo’ed guard who never backed down from anyone shares some of the amazing stories which have led to him being one of the most popular players in Australian history.
Dan Boyce had the opportunity to ask Shane his side of some of the wild stories and moments which have made his career memorable to so many.
The clash is well remembered by fans and players alike. Andrew Gaze, the captain of the Boomers at the time, recalls the clash vividly
“Shane, I think in the emotion of the situation and also just trying to make a statement to the rest of the group to say, ‘Hey, we don’t back down to anyone. I don’t care who you are or what your reputation is, we play it on its merits.’ You could almost see Charles [think] like, ‘What is this little peroxide-haired bloke doing?’”
In turn, Heal recalls Gaze’s attempts to halt the bubbling animosity.
“I remember Andrew trying to calm [the Dream Team] down and try and calm us down, he was like the international peacekeeper. I remember him being hurt by the fact that they were so angry, but we really didn’t take a backward step.” Asked if his treatment of Heal was a sign of respect, Barkley replied: “I try to treat people equal. I try to hit everybody, and in that way, I’m very consistent.”
“He was definitely consistent,” laughs Heal.
Add to the fact while all this was going on, Shane was also amidst a verbal battle with future NBA Hall of Famer Gary Payton that would have been deemed too excessive even for the film “8 Mile”.
“The amount of rubbish that I listened to from Gary Payton about what he was going to do to me after the game and all the rest of it, it was just laughable. No-one spoke as much as what he did, that’s for sure.”
On a promotional tour of Australia later in the year, Payton would admit that he was looking forward to squaring off against the NBA-bound guard and that he’d eat Heal for lunch, mockingly concluding: “It is wonderful for Australia that a short guy can make it to the NBA.”
“We certainly didn’t expect that it was going to be as physical and that we were going to have to stand up for ourselves like we did either,” says Heal.
“The fact that they could be frustrated by an Australian team coming over with no NBA players like that, it was a little bit embarrassing I would have thought if you’re an American.”
“A lot of the time when you look back on games you didn’t realise you were [shooting from] that far out, especially when you’ve got momentum and adrenaline and everything. You just shoot.”
Despite Heal’s game-best scoring performance, the Australians went down 118-77.
At the conclusion, Barkley stopped and embraced Heal in a sign of respect for the Australian’s performance and chutzpah.
“From that point on he was great,” recalls Heal. “During the battle, he was a knucklehead but then you forget about it and you move on.”
Heal still views that Olympic tournament as the sport’s peak in his homeland.
“Australian basketball was probably, if you look back and pinpoint where the high was in Australian basketball, it was probably right then.”
Later that month after the Boomers had progressed to an unlikely semi-final clash with the Dream Team Payton was straight back in Heal’s face. “He was still talking to me right from the start and we were playing off to go into the gold medal game and obviously it was a big thing then because there was so much build-up because of [what had happened] the last time we played.
During that [time Payton signed] an $89m contract and I remember when he was talking trash I said to him.
“Mate, the first thing you need to do when you get your $89m is buy yourself a jump shot.” His eyes spun – I reckon he was then the angriest man that I’d ever played against. He wasn’t happy.”
Even though semi-final clash saw the American’s claim victory once again in a 101-73 contest it was enough for Barkley to offer his begrudging respect for Heal. “That little kid’s tough. I hope he comes to the NBA. He doesn’t have good common sense so he’ll fit right in with the [NBA guard] JR Riders.”
“I think that from that Dream Team game we built belief and then we won big games and played our roles and just kept finding a way to be able to get through,” says Heal. “We knew they were going to throw everything at us and we were on the world stage and playing in front of 40,000 people or something.”
Barkley concluded, “I don’t stroke people, but I think the Australians should be very proud. I really think they thought they could win. “
Barkley’s memories of the encounter left a mark on the round mound of rebound. He recalled the story 20 years later while interviewing fellow Australian Joe Ingles.
Australia had made the voyage weakened by the absence of then-Chicago Bulls centre Luc Longley but succeeded largely due to strong tournaments from Gaze and Heal and a healthy dose of enthusiasm and team spirit.
“I have the utmost respect for guys like Bradtke and Ronaldson and Vlahov that were playing against much bigger opponents,” recalls Heal.
In the bronze medal play-off, the Australians went close to upsetting a strong Lithuanian team containing NBA stars Arvydas Sabonis and Sarunas Marciulionis and fell only 6 points short of a bronze medal…. Perhaps the closest an Australian men’s team has ever come to Olympic silverware.
Shane Heal’s performance at Atlanta landed him a three-year NBA contract with the Minnesota Timberwolves of which he only played one and then asked to be released.
Heal says he only has himself to blame for not playing in the NBA for longer. “I don’t have too many regrets but that’s one of them” Heal noted.
Injuries and the challenges of raising a family in the land of 10,000 lakes got the better of the Australian, who packed his bags for home after a single season.
“He didn’t stop talking trash to me until I hit the five threes in a quarter for Minnesota against Seattle. At the end of that game when I hit five threes he came up and sort of gave me a hug of respect and that was the only time he ever did that”
Barkley too took the time out to offer his sentiments to Shane Heal during his lone NBA season. “I was like ‘wow, that’s Charles Barkley’ and we ended up having a chat and he was great.”
Additional topics discussed include;
- The time he knocked out Grant Kruger
- Clashing heads with Gary Payton
- Going toe to toe with Charles Barkley
- Taking all of his Minnesota Timberwolves teammate’s money during shooting competitions
- Trying to shoot on a basketball ring in Greece while opposition fans sat on the backboard
- Coaching in the NZNBL and how ready is Wellington to compete in the NBL
- Why he walked away from coaching the Sydney Kings
- Coaching NBA star Sam Young and how he fit into the Kings roster last season
- Fond memories of playing for Brisbane, Geelong, Sydney, Gold Coast and South Dragons
- Why Mark Price failed as a coach in the NBL
- His thoughts on why the league needs to expand in the next few years
- His relationship with Brian Goorjian, Brett Brown and other great coaches
- What playing for Australian means to him and why
- Winning his first NBL title in Sydney
- His 61 points in the NBL
- His regrets on not staying in the NBA with Minnesota
All of this and a lot more…