Basketball trailblazer Michael Ah Matt remembered as icon of First Nations sport

ADELAIDE — The remarkable legacy of First Nations basketballer Michael Ah Matt has been highlighted in a special retrospective by Koori Mail correspondent Peter Argent. As part of a series for 2026, the report honours Ah Matt as a trailblazer who became one of the first Indigenous Australians to represent his country at an Olympic Games. Born in Townsville in 1942 and raised in Darwin, Ah Matt was an exceptional all-round athlete who broke records in athletics and excelled in Australian Rules football before cementing his name on the basketball court. Standing at 189cm, he moved to Adelaide where he enjoyed a storied 20-year career with the South Adelaide Panthers, playing 588 games and leading the team to premiership success in 1963, 1965, 1966, 1969, and 1973. At the 1964 Tokyo Olympics, Ah Matt made history alongside First Nations boxers Adrian Blair and Frank Roberts. During the tournament, he distinguished himself in a match against the United States, becoming the only Australian player to reach double figures with 11 points and shooting over 50 per cent from the field. Argent reports that Ah Matt’s passing and all-round skill earned him comparisons to basketball legends such as Magic Johnson and Michael Jordan. Though Ah Matt passed away at the age of 40 in 1983, his influence continues through his family and formal recognitions. He was posthumously inducted into the South Australian Sport Hall of Fame, the Australian Basketball Hall of Fame, and the Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Sports Hall of Fame. The number-one court at Marion Basketball Stadium is named in his honour, while his children, Shane and Kirsty, and grandson Isaiah have continued the family's basketball tradition at South Adelaide.