How NBA star Dyson Daniels helped push Mac Andrew to footy

But Andrew might never have realised his football destiny had it not been for his teenage duels with The Great Barrier Thief on Melbourne’s school basketball circuit.

For Andrew, going toe-to-toe with Daniels as a teenager was part of his realisation that his future lay with a Sherrin in his hands, not a Wilson.

Those hardwood memories came roaring back for Andrew when he spectated Boomers training on the Gold Coast, where his former basketball rival joined the on-court action during his NBA off-season.

Born nine months apart in 2003, Andrew and Daniels were regular opponents in Victorian high school basketball until the future NBA star outgrew that level around the age of 16.

“I used to play against Dyson in juniors,” Andrew reflected from the sidelines of Boomers training.

“I played against him in school basketball a fair bit when I was growing up, until I was about 16 and he went somewhere else.

“That was kind of when I made the switch (to Aussie rules). I was always better at footy so I was always probably going to go that way.

“I never got to throw down a dunk on him. I wasn’t really dunking at that age.”

Five years later, Andrew had his chance at Boomers training – though Daniels was watching on from a massage table.

With an audience including former NBA stars Matthew Dellavedova and Andrew Bogut, plus Chicago Bulls point guard Josh Giddey, the 201cm AFL key defender threw down a barrage of rim-rattling dunks at Somerset College on the Gold Coast.

Australia and Illawarra Hawks guard Davo Hickey liked what he saw from Andrew.

“The big boy who threw down that dunk impressed me,” Hickey said.

“He’s good. The boy is obviously athletic, he’s a special athlete.”

Former NBL MVP Xavier Cooks said he could tell Andrew had played before from his shooting form, let alone his dunking exploits.

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At 203cm Cooks and Andrew stood nearly eye-to-eye when the Suns presented the Boomers with a replica pink guernsey from Saturday’s win over Richmond.

Andrew may just have taken inspiration from his brush with the Boomers when he unleashed from beyond the arc to goal against the Tigers.

His 55m strike was worth six points, not three, and added even more validation that 16-year-old Mac made the right call to swap his sneakers for footy boots and leave the basketball to Daniels.

Originally published as How NBA star Dyson Daniels helped push Mac Andrew to footy