"I couldn't believe it": Michele Timms on her latest Hall of Fame induction and trailblazing career
Michele Timms recently became Australia’s third inductee into the Naismith Memorial Hall of Fame, after Lindsay Gaze and Lauren Jackson.
Michele Timms’ incredible CV – she played in 285 WNBL games and 264 games for the Opals, including three Olympics (and two medals) and four World Cups (with one medal) – provides only an outline of her greatness. Anyone who watched her play and witnessed her elite playmaking, stellar long-range shooting and incredible intangibles, including leadership, work ethic, clutch play and unflagging competitiveness, would know she truly earned the honour.
Credit: FIBA
She was also one of Australian basketball’s trailblazers, becoming the first woman to play in Europe (for Germany’s Lotus Muchen in 1989) and starring in the WNBA’s inaugural season.
She tells The Pick and Roll being named to the Naismith Memorial Hall of Fame (she is already part of the FIBA and women’s basketball halls) was incredible, but the moment she found out proved comically underwhelming. Knowing she would get the call early in the morning on a certain day, she stumbled out of bed at 5am to answer the phone. After taking a half-asleep moment to clear her throat, she realised she had missed the call and couldn’t get through when she tried to call back. She eventually learned she was one of the Class of 2024 inductees in a voicemail.
“It was a funny one, but incredible,” she says. “It was fantastic, especially when there people up for [induction] like Penny [Taylor] and Andrew [Gaze], so I wasn't sure whether I was going to get in. But that’s how it unfolded, and I couldn't believe it to be honest.”
“Their sacrifices go deep”: Timms on her parents’ influence
During her Hall of Fame induction speech, Timms paid tribute to her adoptive parents for their incredible support. Her father had worked six days a week to support the family, and she says the sheer amount of time and work they put into her pursuit of basketball excellence was “exceptional”, especially given they raised nine children.
“I don’t even remember a time that somebody else’s parents took me to a game or training. They always made sure they took all their kids to their sports – and everyone played.
“I’ve got one child, and I found it hard enough to get her everything when she was young. It's quite incredible when I think about what they did. Their sacrifices go deep with me basically absorbing family time by chasing my dreams.
“I totally acknowledge and understand that I stole a bit of everybody else in the family’s time, though it did take us to some good places where tournaments were. I was really, really, really fortunate; they didn't have to adopt me, and who knows what would have happened [if they didn’t], but I definitely wouldn't have had the same opportunities that I had without mum and dad adopting me.”
“Hard but smart”: WNBL titles with Nunawading and Perth
Initially a Bulleen junior, Timms first played for the Bulleen Boomers in the WNBL, but it was at the Nunawading Spectres where she had a golden run of success. Described as “very powerful” by Timms, the Spectres assembled a remarkable collection of talent, including league MVPs Robyn Maher, Shelley Gorman and Karen Blicavs (nee Ogden) across this astonishing era. Other star players included Samantha Thornton, Lyn Palmer and Sharon Deacon.
In 1986, her third season, they won the title, the first of a remarkable four successive championships. In 1987, Timms and company went 18-2 on the way to another title. The next year, they were somehow even better, compiling a 21-1 record and then winning the grand final over North Adelaide Rockets by 28 points. In that season, Timms led the league in three-point field-goal percentage, making 51.8% of her shots from deep. When they won a fourth successive title in 1989, Timms had gone to a new level as an all-round player, placing in the league’s top five for steals, assists and three-point percentage.
Timms says Spectres coach Tom Maher – the inaugural Coach of the Year award winner in 1987 – revolutionised the league. “What Tom taught really well was the IQ of the game,” she recalls. “Even though I was the point guard running the show, everybody knew what had to be done. We would know there’s so many seconds on the clock and we’re down by this [score], what do we do? If [an opponent] is in foul trouble, what offence are we going to run to make them get that fifth foul?
“We might not have started out with much idea about that side of the game, but we sure finished with a good understanding of different situations and how to play the game.
“He had a defensive focus and had us playing incredibly hard every second we were out there. We were hard but smart.”
In 1991, Timms moved to the Perth Breakers, who were searching for their first WNBL title. The following year, with Robyn and Tom Maher as star player and coach, they compiled a 17-3 regular season record and broke through for their sole championship, with Tanya Fisher named the Finals MVP. Timms later enjoyed more success at the Sydney Flames, where she helped them to the semi-finals under coach Carrie Graf.
“An amazing time”: the Opals’ path to the medal dais
At Timms’ first Olympic games in Seoul, South Korea, in 1988, the Opals came agonisingly close to a shock medal. They went down the powerful Yugoslavian team by one point in the semi-final and then lost to the Soviet Union in the bronze medal game. But Timms says her lasting memory is how Australia had greatly outperformed expectations.
“For me, it was a bit of a surprise how well we did. Coming so close, and losing on the buzzer to be playing off for a gold or silver medal was incredible. I don’t think anybody expected us to do as well as we did.
“Being at my first Olympics was super special as well, so that was just an amazing, amazing time.”
While Australia seemed to have definitively arrived as a heavyweight on the world stage after Seoul, their progress wasn’t linear. At the 1992 Barcelona Olympics, they didn’t even qualify for the tournament, a setback Timms describes as “absolutely gut-wrenching”.
But the program had an ace left to play – appointing proven winner Tom Maher as national coach in 1993. The turnaround in the team’s results was swift as Australia finished third in the World Championships on home soil the following year.
Timms says Maher brought a new level of versatility to the Opals program, developing skills far beyond each player’s traditional role.
“He made sure that as a point guard, I had all the back-to-basket moves and could defend a big. Jenny Whittle – who was 6'7" – he made sure she could shoot the three and use her length against a point guard.”
With Maher at the helm, the Opals also had a breakthrough at Olympic level, winning the bronze medal. Timms had another dominant tournament, ranking second among guards with 15 points per game.
Sell-out crowds and mania: A WNBA pioneer
By the mid-90s, Timms had established herself as one of the best floor generals in the game. She added more trophies to her collection at German team Wuppertal, where, along with Opals teammate Sandy Brondello, she helped the team win the German league and then the FIBA Women’s European Champions Cup in 1996.
When the WNBA’s initial player allocation rolled around the following year, assigning superstar players - Sheryl Swoopes and Rebecca Lobo among them – to the new franchises, Timms was an obvious inclusion. She was assigned to the Phoenix Mercury, who would eventually retire her playing number.
Timms had a magnificent year in the WNBA’s first season, ranking second in both assists and steals in the league and putting up 12.1 points per game. Remarkably, her numbers for most steals in a season (71) and season steals average (2.6), are still franchise records today.
“That was just an amazing period in my basketball career,” Timms says. “You know, I had played in Europe, and those crowds were pretty vocal and supportive, but nothing near the level of what I was to experience in the WNBA.
“There were sell-out crowds and just mania around the first season. It was so novel; everyone wanted to be part of it. We had packed stadiums and celebrity rows at games. It was an incredible experience and next level in how they put the game on and how it was played.”
Timms was part of another slice of history when she was named as a starter for the West in the first WNBA All-Star game in New York in 1999. More than 18,000 fans watched as Timms’ team got the win. She also took part in a two-ball game with Steve Nash.
“I didn’t think it could get much bigger than the first couple of seasons in the WNBA, but to be part of the All-Star weekend was just next level again,” she says.
“Madison Square Garden was unbelievable. It was incredible just to be around the NBA guys as well, and to see how approachable they were. We’d had a little bit of crossover at Phoenix with some of the NBA guys, and it was really nice because they truly respected what we were doing for the game.”
“A quirky stage of my career”: Final Olympics in Sydney
By this stage, Timms had taken over the captaincy of the Opals. She says she couldn’t have had a better example to follow. “I got to learn from the greatest leader that Australian basketball has ever had in Robin Maher. She was a fabulous leader of the Spectres and also Australia.
“I don’t know if everybody wants it, but I definitely hoped to be a captain at some stage in my Opals career and I was really over the moon when I got that opportunity. It was extra special being able to do that on home soil.
“The whole experience in 2000 was just unbelievable because of what we were able to do as a nation in the way we put the Olympics on. You know, we don't often pump our chests and act real proud, but I just felt like everyone was so proud to be an Aussie at that time; it was really nice. We did such a great job of putting on the Olympics, from the volunteers to the presentation; everything was just super. To be captain of that team was something special.”
Despite Timms’ fond memories of the Sydney 2000 games, where the team finished with a silver medal, she looks back on that campaign with some bittersweetness. An injury sustained in the previous WNBA season prevented her from playing at her full capacity.
“I was getting ready for the Olympics, and I figured I could continue to make bank playing in the WNBA, so I chose to stay there while all the other Australians stayed home and got ready. It obviously wasn’t the best decision; I had to have a little operation, and limped into the Olympics.
“I had big dreams, as every kid does, of not only being the captain but shooting the buzzer-beater, beating the USA, winning gold medals. In my head, that's what I was hoping was going to happen, but I ended up playing a much smaller role on the court, even though I was captain. I couldn’t play Michele Timms-style basketball.
“It was a quirky stage of my career, but it gave me a good rounded experience. I put my focus on the other side of things, being the best towel-waver I could, just supporting the girls, and I played some minutes here and there. It sounds kind of stupid, but when I look back, I’m glad I had that experience because I truly learned what it meant to be a captain and a leader.”
The future
After retiring as a player, Timms has remained involved in the game through coaching (both men’s and women’s teams and juniors through her Michele Timms Academy) and broadcasting.
Recently, she’s watched in awe as Caitlin Clark has driven new levels of interest in women’s basketball.
“The Caitlin Clark effect is real; she’s just phenomenal,” Timms enthuses. “Over the years, I’ve found there's a lot of hype around the college kids coming out, that they're going to be this and they're going to be that, but I haven't really seen it transferred [to the WNBA], but with Caitlin Clark, she just stepped in and didn't miss a beat. She made a good run for MVP.
“The thing I love about her is she's so classy off the court; she speaks incredibly well and holds herself so gracefully. She's mature beyond her years, as is her game. Her ability to pass the ball is phenomenal; she reminds me of Nancy Lieberman-Cline. Now, we don’t just know her as an incredible shooter; we know her as an incredible passer as well.
“That break she had over the Olympics was so timely for her. I thought she came back after the Olympics even better. What I love most about her game is that she makes everyone else better. She made everybody in that team believe in themselves.”
On the home front, Timms looks forward to seeing Kristi Harrower – someone she reveres as a basketball mind – tackling her first assignment as a full-time WNBL head coach.
“She’s the one I’m excited about, to see how she goes,” Timms says. “I loved seeing her involved with the Opals, and she’s more than ready to take a WNBL team. I'm keen to see how Southside are going to do. Obviously, that's my bias because they’re the only Melbourne team now, but I’m really looking forward to the league kicking off, getting behind the girls and getting out to as many games as I can.”
Listening to Timms’ enthusiasm for the upcoming season is infectious, and it’s clear she remains passionate as ever about growing the game. While her into the Naismith Memorial Hall of Fame was a great honour, it just confirmed what Australian hoops have long known: that Michele Timms is one of the greats.