NBL Career
Mackinnon's career began in 1994 with the South East Melbourne Magic when he won NBL Rookie of the Year. Two seasons later, Mackinnon went to become one of the dominant players for South East Melbourne and they won the NBL championship in 1996.
After South East Melbourne folded, Mackinnon was signed by the Townsville Crocodiles at the beginning of the 1999 season, and it was not long before Townsville became serious title contenders. In 2001, Townsville made the Grand Final, however Mackinnon missed the series due to injury. Once his contract ended in Townsville, Mackinnon elected to sign with the West Sydney Razorbacks where he became their captain and put up career-best numbers in his first season. During the following season Mackinnon led West Sydney into the NBL Grand Final series against cross-town rivals the Sydney Kings. Sydney won the series 3-2.
Keen to win another NBL championship, Mackinnon decided not to sign with West Sydney and instead signed with the re-emerging Brisbane Bullets. And although Brisbane somewhat struggled during the 2005-06 season, Mackinnon demonstrated that he was still a dominant force in the NBL by putting up career-best numbers during the 2006-07 season and led the Bullets to their first NBL championship in 20 years.
He was the first player to win the MVP, Best Defensive Player and Grand Final MVP in league history in the same season (2006–07). Unfortunately, knee injuries sidelined him for most of the 2007-08 season.
On 8 July 2008, the Melbourne Tigers announced they had signed Mackinnon to a three-year deal.
Read more about this topic: Sam Mackinnon
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