Michele Timms

Michele Margaret Timms (born 28 June 1965) is an Australian basketball coach and retired professional basketball player who played for the Phoenix Mercury in the Women's National Basketball Association(WNBA).

Many people consider the Melbourne native to be one of Australia's greatest basketball players of all time.

She has one daughter, Kalsie Timms.

Timms began her professional basketball career in 1984 in Australia.

She was selected to the WNBL All team 7 times (1988–92, 1994, 1996)

In 1989, she became the first Australian (male or female) to play professional basketball internationally when she went to Germany to play with the Lotus München team.

While there, she got a chance to play alongside Marlies Askamp, who would later also play with her on the Mercury.

In the 1992 season, Timms was captain of the Perth Breakers team that won the WNBL championship.

While there, she was named the Women's International Player of The Year in 1994 and 1996.

Also in 1996, at her second Summer Olympics, she helped the Australian national women's basketball team earn their first Olympic medal, a bronze at the Atlanta competition.

Four years later Timms was on the squad that captured the silver medal in front of their own crowd.

She worked as the basketball development officer/ assistant coach for the South Dragons in the Australian National Basketball League.

During her time with the Dragons, she impressed many of the club's staff and players with her sound knowledge of the game and excellent coaching skills.

At the onset of the WNBA in 1997, Timms was assigned to the Phoenix Mercury in the initial player allocation.

Her debut game was played on June 22, 1997 in a 76 - 59 win over the Charlotte Sting where she recorded 8 points, 6 rebounds, 6 assists and 2 steals.

Timms had a very dominant rookie season with averages of 12.1 points, 3.7 rebounds, 5.0 assists and 2.6 steals per game.

The Mercury finished with a 16 - 12 record and made the playoffs but were eliminated in the semi-finals by the New York Liberty.

For the 1998 season, Timms had a drop in all of her season averages except for assists.

Recording a lower average in minutes played, points, rebounds and steals than her previous season.

The Mercury was still able to complete the season with a 19 - 11 record and reach the finals but lost to the Houston Comets.

Timms came within inches of giving the Mercury their first title; with the Mercury up 1-0 and needing only one more win for the championship, and Game Two tied at 66 with three seconds to go, Timms took a three-point shot that bounced off the rim's back.

Ultimately, the Comets won that game 74–69 in overtime, and then the championship in Game Three.

The 1998 season was 2nd and final time that Timms played in the playoffs with the Mercury.

The Mercury had a losing season of 15 - 17 and missed the playoffs in 1999.

In 2000, the Mercury did reach the playoffs with a 20 - 12 record, but Timms only played 8 games that season and sat out of the playoffs as the Mercury lost in the semi-finals to the Los Angeles Sparks.

Timms bounced back and played more games in the 2001 season, playing in 21 games and averaging more points and assists than the previous season.

But 2001 saw the Mercury have their worst record so far of 13 - 19.

Timms' final WNBA game was played on August 14, 2001 in a 56 - 38 win over the Houston Comets where she recorded 10 points, 4 assists and 2 rebounds.

That very same day (as it was the final game of the season and the Mercury were officially not making the playoffs), Timms announced her retirement and almost immediately joined the Mercury's television broadcasting crew, a job which she held only for that season.

On 7 August 2002, her number 7 jersey became the first to be retired by the Phoenix Mercury, and only the second jersey ever retired by the WNBA (the first being Kim Perrot).

Upon her retirement, she was the Mercury's career leader in assists.

In 2005, Timms was honoured by the WNBL with the creation of the Michele Timms Cup.

The cup is presented to the winner of the Bulleen Boomers-Dandenong Rangers derbies.

In February 2005, the Phoenix Mercury announced that she had been signed as an assistant coach under fellow Australian and Mercury head coach Carrie Graf.

Timms was inducted into the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame in 2008.

She left the club on 9 January 2008 and during the middle of the Dragons' season, to fulfill her career ambitions by moving to the United States.

She was an assistant coach with China women's national basketball team, reuniting her with her former Opals coach Tom Maher.

She was inducted into the FIBA Hall of Fame in 2016.

Timms played a very influential role for many of the future international women's players, especially Australian women basketball stars.

Timms played for four clubs in her WNBL career: Bulleen, Nunawading, Perth and Sydney.