{{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 = | birth_date = {{Birth date|1942|11|30|df=y}} | birth_place = Townsville, Queensland, Australia | death_date = {{Death date and age|1983|2|14|1942|11|30|df=y}} | death_place = | high_school = | college = | draft_year = | draft_round = | draft_pick = | draft_team = | 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.<ref name=aoc>{{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}}</ref><ref name=sportref>{{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}}</ref>
Ah Matt was born on 30 November 1942 in Townsville, Queensland,<ref name=sportref/> and grew up in Darwin, Northern Territory.<ref name=ba>{{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}}</ref> He represented the Northern Territory at the 1959 Australian Championships.<ref name=ba/> After the Championships he moved to Adelaide, South Australia to play with the South Adelaide Panthers.<ref name=ba/> He played a then record 588 games over twenty seasons with the Panthers.<ref name=ba/>
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.<ref name=ba/>
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."<ref name=abc>{{cite web|last1=Coady|first1=David|title=Hall of Fame for Indigenous basketballer Ahmat|url=https://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}}</ref>
Ah Matt died of a heart attack on 14 February 1983.<ref>{{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 }}</ref><ref>{{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}}</ref>
==Achievements and recognition== * 1964: With Adrian Blair and Frank Roberts, the first Indigenous Australians to represent Australia at the Olympic Games in 1964<ref name=aoc/> * !994: Inductee, Aboriginal and Islander Sports Hall of Fame<ref name=ba/> * 2010: Inductee, Australian Basketball Hall of Fame<ref name=ba/>
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== *{{Basketball-Reference.com international player|michael-ah-matt-1}} *[http://www.basketball.net.au/hall_of_fame/michael-ahmatt-dec/ Basketball Australia Hall of Fame] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140330220409/http://www.basketball.net.au/hall_of_fame/michael-ahmatt-dec/ |date=30 March 2014 }} * {{AOC profile}} * {{Olympedia}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ah Matt, Michael}} Category:1942 births Category:1983 deaths Category:Australian men's basketball players Category:Basketball players at the 1964 Summer Olympics Category:Basketball players from South Australia Category:Indigenous Australian Olympians Category:Indigenous Australian basketball players Category:Olympic basketball players for Australia Category:People from Townsville Category:Sportsmen from Queensland Category:20th-century Australian sportsmen Category:20th-century Indigenous Australian people