The basketballer Danny Morseu (b. 1958) was born on Thursday Island in the Torres Strait. In 1979 he played for the St Kilda team that won Australia's inaugural National Basketball League (NBL) championship. The following year he became the first Torres Strait Islander to represent Australia at an Olympic Games - he played in seven matches at the Moscow Olympics, and in a further eight at the Los Angeles Olympics in 1984. In 1987, playing for the Brisbane Bullets, he won another NBL title. In April 2003, having played a total of 217 NBL matches over ten seasons, he became the first Indigenous player to be inducted into the NBL's Hall of Fame.
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2006
© Sahlan Hayes