The making of a 500-game NBL great

Peter Hooley for NBL.com.au.

In January 2008, 19-year-old development player Chris Goulding stepped onto an NBL floor for the Brisbane Bullets and knocked down the first three-pointer of his career.

Eighteen years, multiple championships and 1,376 threes later, one of Australia’s greatest-ever shooters is still lighting it up as he adds another chapter of history to his incredible legacy.

Goulding will play his 500th career game, becoming just the 15th player in league history to reach that milestone, and he’s far from finished.

While most of his career has been defined by success at Melbourne United, including two recent championships, it’s easy to forget how bumpy the early stages of his journey were.

Born in Tasmania, Goulding moved to Queensland early in his childhood, which led to Joey Wright being one of the first to identify something special in the teenager, signing him to the Brisbane Bullets as a development player in the 2006-07 season.

Photo: The Australian.

Wright, who is widely regarded as one of the best player-relationship coaches around, believes the young teenager was always destined to do great things, even if the path wasn’t easy.

“I don’t know if I’ve coached many guys who did it the right way more than him,” he said.

“He would not let anybody outwork him, not even me.

“He always believed in himself. But what I respect the most is that he put in the work to back up his confidence.”

From appearing in just one game in his first season for the Bullets, to 15 the next, and then 14 games as a development player for the Perth Wildcats in 2009, opportunities were few and far between.

“To see where he’s come from as a development player with us back in Brisbane to today, where he’s a true legend of our league, is incredible,” former Bullets teammate Adam Gibson said.

“He’s someone that a lot of people look up to and someone that a lot of people model their game around with his shooting abilities.

“I don’t think anyone, or many at all, will be able to reach what he’s been able to do for this long.”

When Wright brought Goulding back to be part of the Gold Coast Blaze franchise, the talent slowly became impossible to ignore. He would go on to average almost 10 points across 85 games with the club, shooting almost 39 per cent from three-point range.

In 2012, with the basketball world at his feet, the future looked bright for the 24-year-old until it suddenly came to a screeching halt.

On July 17 of that year, the Gold Coast franchise folded, and while seven of the team’s players were able to find their next playing contract, Goulding did not.

With his career at a crossroads, it was a phone call from an Australian basketball legend that would lay the foundation for the greatness that followed.

“I had trained a bit with the Blaze the year after I retired,” said Hall of Famer Chris Anstey, who had just become the head coach of the Melbourne Tigers at the time.

“I had forgotten Chris’ name, but I just remembered this kid with the confidence to make plays and shoot the kind of shots that he did as one of the development players.

“One of the first calls I made when I was named coach was to Mark Worthington (Goulding’s Blaze teammate) to remind me of his name, because there was just something about him that stood out and I wanted to tap into that.”

Over his two seasons at the Tigers, Goulding went from initially doubling his scoring output to 15 points per game, to a scoring title in 2014 and a career-best 22.8 points per game.

While Anstey’s decision to bring the young star across to Melbourne paid off almost immediately, it was met with some doubt early on.

“I got a bit of heat from the club for it, because they didn’t want to fire Ron Dorsey,” he said.

“But I will always remember the day I knew I was right.

“While I was watching my daughter play at Sandringham Basketball Stadium, I found him shooting at 10 o’clock at night on the back courts with the lights off.

“I went and asked the lady at the canteen and she told me he does that every day.

“He’s got one of the best work ethics I’ve ever been around.”

Since the NBL returned to 40-minute games in the 2009–10 season, no one had scored 50 points in a game, and many believed the feat was simply too hard without the extra game time.

New Zealand legend Kirk Penney had 49 points in 2010 and stood as the only player to score over 40 in those five years until Goulding caught fire in 2014.

A record-setting 50-point night against the Sydney Kings, highlighted by nine three-pointers, removed any remaining doubt about his place in the NBL.

He had arrived.

Over the next decade, Goulding quickly became one of the faces of the league and one of its most electrifying players. As he went on to win two NBL championships, it was a bronze medal at the Tokyo Olympics that further solidified his place in Australian basketball history.

“With the Boomers, he was always a guy that when he came to camp, you knew what you were going to get,” Joe Ingles said.

“While his role kind of fluctuated a little bit with us, he was always the ultimate professional and he brought that same energy and work ethic each day, and guys loved being around him.

“I think all the coaches along the way knew they could just throw him in there at any point if they felt we needed to get going, and he would do that at a high level.”

After 18 seasons, most players’ roles begin to decrease as their bodies give way, yet Goulding continues to defy those trends, exemplified by a 25-point flurry in seven minutes last season against the Wildcats on his way to 46 points.

“This is an elite group that he joins in this league,” head coach Dean Vickerman said.

“When I think about CG, I think about the great shooter that he is. I think about Kirk Penney, Chris Jent, CJ Bruton, those great shooters that I coached.

“But what is unique about CG is his ability to shoot off balance, to be able to have his shoulders twisted, but still shoot it at a great percentage.

“He’s an incredible leader, so influential on a team, and sometimes he probably doesn’t even understand how much he can impact a team.”

After 499 games, the 37-year-old Goulding just continues to deliver.

“500 games is unreal and it just goes to show, obviously the longevity and a healthy career, but it’s the professionalism and the day-to-day work,” Ingles added.

“Not just on the court but in the gym, the rehab, and all those little things to keep your body together for that long.

“Awesome to be a teammate with him and proud to win a bronze medal with him, and I think he’s still got a lot left.”

One of the greatest showmen in the sport has proved time and time again that he’s worth the price of admission.

“That’s the kind of person you want representing the game,” Wright said.

“There’s not many I would pay to see play, but he’s one.”

As far as cementing his legacy permanently, Anstey believes that conversation is already settled.

“His singlet should be the first one that Melbourne United retires.”

Hard to argue with that.

Goulding will play game 500 as Melbourne travels to Perth on Sunday. Watch the game live on ESPN and 10 Drama from 4.30pm AEDT.