Michele Timms

{{Short description|Australian basketball player and coach (born 1965)}}

{{Infobox basketball biography

| name = Michele Timms

| image = Micheletimms2016.jpg

| image_size = 180px

| caption = Timms with the Chinese national team in 2016

| height_ft = 5

| height_in = 7

| weight_lb = 132

| birth_date = {{birth date and age|df=yes|1965|6|28}}

| birth_place = Melbourne, Australia

| career_start = 1984

| career_end = 2001

| coach_start = 2005

| career_number =

| career_position = Point guard

| years1 = 1984

| team1 = Bulleen Boomers

| years2 = 1985–1990

| team2 = Nunawading Spectres

| years3 = 1989–1990

| team3 = Lotus Munich

| years4 = 1991–1994

| team4 = Perth Breakers

| years5 = 1992–1993

| team5 = Lotus Munich

| years6 = 1993–1994

| team6 = Firenze Basket

| years7 = 1995–1996

| team7 = Sydney Flames

| years8 = 1995–1997

| team8 = BTV Wuppertal

| years9 = {{WNBA Year|1997}}–{{WNBA Year|2001}}

| team9 = Phoenix Mercury

| years10 = 1998–1999

| team10 = Bulleen Boomers

| cyears1 = {{WNBA Year|2005}}

| cteam1 = Phoenix Mercury (assistant)

| cyears2 = 2007–2008

| cteam2 = South Dragons (assistant)

| cyears3 = 2009–2011

| cteam3 = Bulleen Boomers (assistant)

| highlights =

As player:

WNBA All-Star (1999)
5× WNBL champion (1986–1989, 1992)
FIBA Women's European Champions Cup winner (1996)
No. 7 retired by Phoenix Mercury

As coach:

WNBL champion (2011)

| bbr_wnba = timmsmi01w

| FIBA_HOF_player = Michele-Timms

| womensHOF = michele-timms

| medaltemplates =

{{MedalCountry | {{AUS}} }}

}}

Michele Margaret Timms {{post-nominals|country=AUS|AM}} (born 28 June 1965) is an Australian basketball coach and former player. She played five seasons for the Phoenix Mercury of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). She was inducted into the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame in 2008 and into the FIBA Hall of Fame in 2016.

In the Women's National Basketball League (WNBL), Timms made 285 appearances and won five championships.

Professional career

=WNBL=

Timms debuted in the WNBL in 1984 with the Bulleen Boomers. She joined the Nunawading Spectres in 1985 and played six seasons for the club. Between 1991 and 1994, she played for the Perth Breakers. In 1995 and 1996, she played for the Sydney Flames. For the 1998–99 WNBL season, she returned to the Bulleen Boomers.{{cite web|url=https://www.fiba.basketball/hall-of-fame/Michele-Timms|title=Michele Timms – Hall of Fame|work=FIBA|access-date=10 April 2024}} She won four WNBL championships with Nunawading and one with Perth. In the 1992 season, Timms was captain of the Breakers team that won the championship.{{cite web|last=O'Donoghue|first=Craig|url=https://thewest.com.au/sport/basketball/melissa-sinfield-and-melissa-marsh-hope-a-perth-lynx-championship-will-secure-the-clubs-financial-future-c-13906853|title=Melissa Sinfield and Melissa Marsh hope a Perth Lynx championship will secure the club's financial future|work=The West Australian|date=12 March 2024|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://archive.today/20240312073706/https://thewest.com.au/sport/basketball/melissa-sinfield-and-melissa-marsh-hope-a-perth-lynx-championship-will-secure-the-clubs-financial-future-c-13906853|archive-date=12 March 2024}}

=WNBA=

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.{{cite web | url=https://www.basketball-reference.com/wnba/boxscores/199706220PHO.html | title=Charlotte Sting at Phoenix Mercury, June 22, 1997 }} 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 Mercury reached the playoffs with a 20 - 12 record in the 1998 season, 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.{{Cite web|url=https://www.basketball-reference.com/wnba/boxscores/200108140PHO.html|title=Houston Comets at Phoenix Mercury, August 14, 2001|website=Basketball-Reference.com}} 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.{{Cite web|url=https://www.wnba.com/archive/wnba/mercury/archives/timms_bio.html|title=MERCURY: Michele Timms #7|website=www.wnba.com}}

On August 7, 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.

=Europe=

Timms played five seasons in Europe. Her first came in 1989–90 with German team Lotus Munich. She returned to Lotus Munich in 1992–93, played for Firenze Basket in Italy in 1993–94, and then played two seasons for BTV Wuppertal between 1995 and 1997. She won the FIBA Women's European Champions Cup with Wuppertal in 1996.

=National team=

Timms made 264 appearances for the Australian national team. She participated in four World Championships (1986, 1990, 1994, 1998) and three Olympic Games (1988, 1996, 2000). She won Olympic bronze and silver medals (1996, 2000) and a World Championship bronze medal (1998). She was captain of the Olympic team in 2000.

Coaching career

Timms made her coaching debut in 2005 as an assistant coach with the Phoenix Mercury. In 2006, she joined the South Dragons of the National Basketball League (NBL) as a basketball development officer.{{cite web|url=https://www.smh.com.au/sport/dragons-make-inaugural-nbl-signing-20060318-gdn6cr.html|title=Dragons make inaugural NBL signing|work=smh.com.au|date=18 March 2006|access-date=19 May 2024}} She became an assistant coach for the Dragons in the 2007–08 NBL season.[http://southdragons.com.au/default.aspx?s=newsdisplay&id=73792 Timms signs off on Dragons], southdragons.com.au, 9 January 2008 She quit as an assistant and development coach in January 2008 to go abroad for interviews for assistant coaching positions with two women's teams.{{cite web|last=Howell|first=Stephen|url=https://www.theage.com.au/sport/basketball/timms-to-leave-the-dragons-for-us-job-20080110-ge6lbe.html|title=Timms to leave the Dragons for US job|work=theage.com.au|date=10 January 2008|access-date=19 May 2024}} She went to serve as an assistant coach of the China women's national basketball team (2008,Bernard, G., [http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,23190978-10914,00.html China calls for Timms], Herald Sun, 10 February 2008 2013–2016); assistant coach of the Bulleen Boomers (2009–2011); and assistant coach of the Australia women's national basketball team (2009–2012).

Honours

Timms was named the Women's International Player of The Year in 1994 and 1996. She received an Australian Sports Medal in 2000 and was inducted into the Sport Australia Hall of Fame in 2003.{{cite web|url=https://honours.pmc.gov.au/honours/awards/979698|title=Timms, Michele: Australian Sports Medal|publisher=It's an Honour|access-date=23 December 2013}}{{cite web|url=https://sahof.org.au/hall-of-fame-member/michele-timms/|title=Michele Timms|publisher=Sport Australia Hall of Fame|access-date=26 September 2020}} In 2008, Timms was inducted into the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame.{{cite web|url=http://www.wbhof.com/inductees.html|title=WBHOF Inductees|publisher=WBHOF|access-date=2009-08-01}}

On 17 August 2016, Timms was inducted into the FIBA Hall of Fame.{{Cite web|url=http://www.smh.com.au/sport/basketball/australian-opals-wnba-legend-michele-timms-to-enter-fiba-hall-of-fame-20160610-gpgvxz.html|title=Australian Opals, WNBA legend Michele Timms to enter FIBA Hall of Fame|website=The Sydney Morning Herald|date=11 June 2016|access-date=2016-06-12}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.fiba.basketball/news/2016-class-of-fiba-hall-of-fame-michele-timms|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160818203539/http://www.fiba.com/news/2016-class-of-fiba-hall-of-fame-michele-timms|url-status=live|archive-date=18 August 2016|title=2016 Class of FIBA Hall of Fame: Michele Timms|website=FIBA.com|access-date=2016-10-25}}

Timms was made a Member of the Order of Australia in the 2018 Australia Day Honours.{{cite web|title=TIMMS, Michele Margaret|url=https://honours.pmc.gov.au/honours/awards/2000549|website=Australian Honours Search Facility, Dept of Prime Minister & Cabinet|access-date=6 February 2018}}

On 6 April 2024, Timms was named to the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame.{{Cite web |title=Chauncey Billups, Vince Carter headline 2024 Hall of Fame class |date=6 April 2024 |url=https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/39887292/chauncey-billups-vince-carter-headline-2024-hall-fame-class}}