Shane McDonald
Shane McDonald is an Australian professional basketball player for the Nunawading Spectres of the NBL1. The 188 cm point guard played one season of college basketball for Nova Southeastern University before playing professionally in the NBL for the Singapore Slingers, Perth Wildcats, Melbourne Tigers and New Zealand Breakers. He is a long-time serving captain of the Nunawading Spectres, having led the team to a championship in 2011 and earned co-MVP honours in 2013. He is also a seven-time All-SEABL Team member, having first made the team in 2007 before earning the honour every year between 2011 and 2016.
Early life and career
Born in Nhill, Victoria, McDonald played junior basketball in Horsham where he eventually made the senior Hornets squad and become an integral member of the Hornets' history-making double hat-trick of championships between 2000 and 2003. He played his last season for Horsham in 2004 and averaged 29.3 points, 4.6 rebounds, 3.4 assists and 1.9 steals in 16 games.In 2003, McDonald graduated from Horsham College, and the following year he moved to the United States on exchange from Victoria University to attend Nova Southeastern University. While there, he played basketball for the Sharks and studied a Bachelor of Applied Science in Physical Education.
In May 2005, McDonald returned to Australia and joined the Albury Wodonga Bandits of the South East Australian Basketball League. He managed 13 games in his first SEABL season and averaged 11.8 points, 2.1 rebounds and 2.0 assists per game. After a lone season with Albury Wodonga, he joined the Nunawading Spectres in 2006. He quickly grew in confidence and raised his statistics dramatically, moving from 11.8 points per game in 2006 to a career-high 20.4 per game in 2007.
Professional career
Slingers and Wildcats
McDonald's great season for Nunawading in 2007 earned him a contract with the Singapore Slingers for the 2007–08 NBL season. He was a solid back-up point guard throughout his first NBL season and managed to appear in 29 of the Slingers' 30 games. In those 29 games, he averaged 7.9 points, 2.4 rebounds and 2.5 assists per game. Following the NBL season, he returned to Nunawading for the 2008 SEABL season and went on to average 20.3 points, 4.2 rebounds and 5.6 assists per game.After the Slingers pulled out of the NBL in 2008, McDonald was left without a team for the 2008–09 NBL season. However, with injuries to a couple of key Perth Wildcats guards midway through the season, the club turned to McDonald, signing him for the rest of the season on 7 January 2009. He managed just five games for the Wildcats, recording a total of five points and seven assists.
Championship and MVP
After a further two seasons for Nunawading, McDonald finally found success in 2011, leading the Spectres to their first victorious season since 1995. In the championship-winning season, he averaged 14.5 points, 3.3 rebounds and 5.4 assists per game while earning a reputation as one of the best point guards in the country not playing in the NBL, with selection as a South All-Star and winning the Hugh McMeniman medal for MVP in the Championship game. Due to this acclaim and success, McDonald earned himself another NBL call-up, this time with the Melbourne Tigers. With the Tigers having sacked import guard Ayinde Ubaka, the club signed McDonald to a short-term deal on 18 January 2012. He managed just one game for the Tigers in a road loss to the New Zealand Breakers the following day; he managed four points and one assist in five minutes of game time.After another solid season for Nunawading in 2012, McDonald had an even better season the following year as he recorded his best averages since the 2008 season. In his ninth SEABL season, McDonald averaged 17.3 points, 4.9 rebounds and a career-high 7.9 assists per game. He subsequently earned co-MVP honours for the 2013 season alongside Sandringham Sabres centre John Pichon.
In 2014, McDonald led his team to a SEABL East Conference title but the Spectres could not claim top honours again as they lost to South Conference champions, the Mount Gambier Pioneers, in the SEABL grand final.
New Zealand Breakers
After starting the 2015 SEABL season for Nunawading with averages of 18.1 points, 3.9 rebounds and 8.6 assists in 10 games, McDonald received another NBL opportunity, this time in New Zealand. On 19 June 2015, McDonald signed with the New Zealand Breakers for the 2015–16 NBL season. He finished off the season with Nunawading averaging 15.4 points, 3.6 rebounds and 7.6 assists in 21 games, and made his way to Auckland for the start of pre-season in September. In his first hit out for the Breakers on 9 September, McDonald recorded seven points and a team-high four assists in an 82–78 pre-season win over the Sydney Kings.McDonald made his regular season debut for the Breakers on 7 October in Adelaide against the Adelaide 36ers. In what was a dismal performance by the team, losing 90–71, McDonald also struggled, coming off the bench to score seven points on 2-of-11 shooting. McDonald played in 22 of the team's 28 regular season games and helped the Breakers finish with a 16–12 win/loss record, good for fourth place on the ladder. However, for the playoffs, he lost his spot in the line-up to development player Shea Ili. The Breakers went on to make it through to the grand final where they were defeated 2–1 by the Perth Wildcats. In his 22 appearances, McDonald averaged 1.3 points in 6.2 minutes per game.
Post-Breakers stint
Following the 2015–16 NBL season, McDonald returned to Nunawading for the 2016 SEABL season. He helped them reach the East Conference grand final, where they were defeated 76–64 by the Bendigo Braves. In 2016, McDonald was named in the All-SEABL Team for the sixth straight season. In 26 games for the Spectres in 2016, he averaged 14.3 points, 3.2 rebounds and 6.5 assists per game.In 2017, McDonald was named the recipient of the SEABL's Golden Hands award and became the SEABL's all-time assists leader, overtaking Ben Harvey with 1,959. In 26 games for the Spectres in 2017, he averaged 11.2 points, 3.6 rebounds and 8.2 assists per game.
In 2018, McDonald led the Spectres to the SEABL Grand Final, where they lost 72–58 to the Hobart Chargers. The following year, he helped the Spectres return to the grand final, this time in the NBL1, where he had 12 points and 10 assists in a 99–90 win over the Bendigo Braves to claim his second championship with Nunawading.