Ireland’s Basketball association is comprised by Irish players who came both from the Northern Ireland and The Republic of Ireland.
Although Ireland has never been in the top list of greatest basketball teams internationally, there are still a lot of Irish basketball players who are really great in this field and are some of the prides of Ireland.
The first one is, Patrick “Pat” John Burke, who was born on the 14th of December in the year 1973. He is from Dublin, Ireland. Pat is a former professional basketball player whereas his last game was played with the Club Asseco Prokom Sopot which is from Poland. He was also the former co-captain ball for the Irish National Basketball team and has also represented his country in the World University Games.
Burke was the first ever Irish player to enter the NBA scene in the year 2002. He has played 62 games for the Orlando Magic whereas his average was: 2.3 rebounds and 4.3 points. He did not play in the NBA during the 2003 to 2004 and 2004 to 2005 seasons.
After his long rest in the NBA, he played for the Phoenix Suns for two consecutive seasons and these is his way of coming back. He was also in the training camp with the Golden State Warriors in the year 2007 before he was then finally released.
Another exceptional Irish Basketball Player is “Marty”, short for his name, Martin Mc Bride Conlon. This 43 year old Irish is a previous professional basketball player. His career in the Irish National Basketball Association lasted from 1992 to 2000. Conlon learned how to play basketball at the Archbishop Stepinac High School at White Plains, New York.
Conlon’s earliest fame came when he was at his college freshman year when he played for the Providence College which turned out to be a good match. The team which he was included with landed in the Final Four.
Conlon was also able to enter the NBA arena and played for the teams of Milwaukee Bucks, Miami Heat, Sacramento Kings, Seattle Supersonics, Los Angeles Clippers, Boston Celtics and Charlotte Hornets. He was at his peak of career when he was still playing with the Milwaukee Bucks. However, his talent as a basketball player started to rebound after some time. After his long and very colourful career, he had signed his last contract with the Clippers and continued playing professional Basketball for Ireland, Italy, Spain and Greece.
Jay Larranaga, one of the most active Irish basketball players. He is the present manager and player as well for the Ireland National Basketball Team. Larranaga is a very notable member of the Italian Basketball Team which is the Juvecaserta Basket.
Before he became the head coach and player of the Ireland Basketball Team, he first played for the Bowling Green Falcons together with Antonio Daniels. In the year 1997, he moved to Italy and played for the Viola Reggio Calabria. He also played and has won the 2000 French All-Star game while he was still playing for the French Basketball Team ASVEL Villeurbanne. His career is very well anticipated for he is a great basketball player that is why; he is very in demand and being acquired by a lot of countries which made move from one country to another.
Lennie Lee Mc Millian, is an Irish Basketball Professional Player. He was born on the 21st of March, 1959 in Georgia, United States. After a stand out hurtle in the Pittsburgh University, he decided to play professional Basketball in Ireland. During those times, basketball was having an unbelievable popularity.
He joined Burgerland team in the summer of 1982. He quickly surfaced as one of the star players in the league. While playing for the North Mon and Notre Dame, Mc Millian has won four Irish Cups. He has also received an award which was given by the Irish Independent for his great performance against the Star of the Sea during the Sprite Cup.
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