Michael Ah Matt

{{Short description|Australian basketball player (1942–1983)}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2015}}

{{Use Australian English|date=May 2015}}

{{Infobox basketball biography

| name = Michael Ah Matt

| image =

| position =

| height_cm = 188

| weight_kg = 73

| team =

| nationality = Australian

| birth_date = {{Birth date|1942|11|30|df=y}}

| birth_place = Townsville, Queensland

| death_date = {{Death date and age|1983|2|14|1942|11|30|df=y}}

| death_place =

| high_school =

| college =

| draft_year =

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| career_start = 1959

| career_end = 1979

| years1 = 1959–1979

| team1 = South Adelaide Panthers

| highlights =

}}

Michael Henry George Ah Matt (30 November 1942 – 14 February 1983) was an Indigenous Australian professional basketball player. He played for the Australian national basketball team at the 1964 Tokyo Olympics.{{cite web|title=Australian Indigenous Olympians|url=http://corporate.olympics.com.au/files/dmfile/Australian%20Indigenous%20Olympians_19Feb2015_v2.pdf|website=Australian Olympic Committee website|accessdate=10 May 2015}}{{cite web|title=Michael Ah Matt|url=https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/ah/michael-ah-matt-1.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200418090735/https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/ah/michael-ah-matt-1.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=18 April 2020|website=Sports Reference - Olympics|accessdate=11 May 2015}}

Ah Matt was born on 30 November 1942 in Townsville, Queensland, and grew up in Darwin, Northern Territory.{{cite web|title=Basketball Australia Hall of Fame|url=http://www.basketball.net.au/hall_of_fame/michael-ahmatt-dec/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140330220409/http://www.basketball.net.au/hall_of_fame/michael-ahmatt-dec/|archive-date=2014-03-30|website=Basketball Australia|accessdate=11 May 2015}} He represented the Northern Territory at the 1959 Australian Championships. After the Championships he moved to Adelaide, South Australia to play with the South Adelaide Panthers. He played a then record 588 games over twenty seasons with the Panthers.

In 1964, he was a member of the Australian team at the 1964 Tokyo Olympics. In 1968, he was a member of the Australian team that participated in the pre-Olympic qualifying tournament in Monterrey, though that team failed to qualify for the 1968 Summer Olympics.

Former Australian Olympian Darryl Pearce said of Ah Matt, "He had an amazing sense of where he was on the court and he could see players where no-one could understand how he could actually pass the ball the way he did."{{cite web|last1=Coady|first1=David|title=Hall of Fame for Indigenous basketballer Ahmat|url=http://www.abc.net.au/news/2010-08-19/hall-of-fame-for-indigenous-basketballer-ahmat/950174|website=ABC News, 19 August 2010|accessdate=10 May 2015}}

Ah Matt died of a heart attack on 14 February 1983.{{cite news |last1=Spasaro |first1=Josh |title=Indigenous Round can pave the way for NBL |url=https://www.territorystories.nt.gov.au/jspui/bitstream/10070/306404/34/Northern%20Territory%20News_20181220_page36_NTNews_Sport_36.PDF |accessdate=16 November 2019 |work=Northern Territory News |date=20 December 2018 }}{{Dead link|date=September 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}{{cite web |last1=Turner |first1=Matt |title=Grandson of basketball great Michael Ah Matt chases sporting dreams |url=https://www.adelaidenow.com.au/messenger/north-northeast/grandson-of-basketball-great-michael-ah-matt-chases-sporting-dreams/news-story/4e8c01d03053b0ef82a5f543e2bdca7a |website=The Advertiser |accessdate=16 November 2019 |date=30 April 2015}}