a conversation with michele timms

this interview was conducted in december of 2018. it has not been published until now.

it is difficult to condense michele timms into a short list of accolades. her career is drenched with achievement. she is perhaps then most simply characterised as being the first. the first australian woman to play basketball in europe. the first australian woman to play basketball in america. the first, after retiring from her playing career, woman to be hired as an assistant coach by an nbl club. the first athlete, female or male, to be inducted into the basketball australia hall of fame and then elevated to legend status.

a search of her name brings one quote:

many people consider the melbourne native to be one of australia’s greatest basketball players of all time.

though the first in a series, this interview has remained unreleased because i could not bring myself to look at the results of the shoot i had convinced michele to do with me. the collection of photographs are intensely comical: the poses, the bare feet, the solemn expressions, the accidentally matching outfits.

but they aptly encapsulate a significant part of michele’s spirit: her tolerance and kindness, a profound generosity. this interview, touching on childhood and motherhood, fulfilled dreams and lingering regret, is remarkably candid. i hope you enjoy reading it.