On this day, 19 years ago, the Aussie Larry Bird, Andrew ‘Gazey’ Gaze — an Aussie sporting legend only topped if you combined Don Bradman, Dawn Frazer, Cathy Freeman, Steven Bradbury, Brocky, Thorpie and Makybe Diva all together — found himself in Chicago, Illinois for his 10th ever NBA game!
That’s right, aged 33 and toting hair greyer than a Hobart summer sky, but with arms rippling from being put on this Earth to put the ball in the hoop like some sort of basketball Zeus, the Aussie GOAT 
🐐was suiting up next to Tim Duncan and David ‘The Admiral’ Robinson for the San Antonio Spurs!
Now, Gazey had spent his years in the NBA wilderness busier than Wayne Carey in a teammate’s bathroom: after his first NBA stint with the Washington Bullets in ‘93 — lasting a pair of 10-day contracts and 7 games — Gazey had returned to the motherland and won FIVE STRAIGHT bloody NBL MVPs AND a second title alongside Mark Bradtke and Lanard Copeland with the Melbourne Tigers.
SO! Having dominated the NBL and nothing left to prove in Australia — his legacy as an all-time dead-set Aussie ledge was already forged stronger than a right hook from Aussie Joe Joe Bugner — Gazey was frothing for an NBA ring. And, being the legend he is, Gazey took off like the cops after my mate Tall Kane for doing doughies up on the Goldie and bloody well helped the Spurs to their first ever NBA title!
Unfortunately, whispers still abound that NBA Commissioner David Stern put the hard word on Spurs coach Gregg Popovich, figuring that letting Pop play the Aussie Larry Bird every night would tip the balance of NBA competition too bloody far. Stern’s alleged Anti-‘Strayan bias left Pop having to keep Gazey under wraps — and even inactive during the playoffs for the sake of the other teams! It was a situation more cooked than Karl Stefanovic after the Logies.
You can only imagine Pop’s frustration knowing just how bloody good Gazey was, so, in this game against the Bulls 19 years ago, Pop let the then-7 time NBL MVP hit the court for a full minute during a blow out win.
Gazey ended up playing 1 minute and finished with a line of 0/0/0/0/0.
And look. Sure, he was in the game for less time than it takes Punter Ponting to throw a pineapple on the sixth at the Wentworth Park dogs, but Gazey was finally back! Better yet, regardless of backroom manoeuvring, Gazey was on his way to NBA immortality when his non-stop legendary bench cheering inspired the Spurs all the way to the ’99 NBA title!
#ONYA Gazey!
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