Andrew Gaze on Being the Spurs Most Irrelevant Championship Player 

The rest of the NBA should be so fortunate that the Spurs remained injury free that season. Pop did not need to unleash the goat Gazey on the league.

That shit breaks my heart. Dude should wear his ring with pride. He was part of that team’s culture and was there every day practicing against the starters.

He’s got one more than, Reggie, chuck, Ewing, Malone, Stockton and kemp 😏

Gaze averaged 44ppg one season in Australia's NBL. Over a five or six season stretch he averaged something like 38ppg (might have been an even longer stretch actually) while attempting nearly 10 threes a game. This was from the late 80s to early 90s. This dude was literally born 30 years too early, he would have thrived in today's NBA, way ahead of his time.

He’s a nice dude and a good person, so happy for him that he has a ring and Karl Malone, who is a trash person, doesn’t.

No athleticism, but great shooter and good teammate, an no ego drama.... great twelfth man for an NBA team. Deserved the ring. :)

It you’re good enough to earn a spot on an NBA roster you deserve that shit. Like was said if injuries happen suddenly you go from 12th man to maybe a 6th man role depending on who gets hurt. Gaze individually obviously accomplished a lot more in basketball outside the NBA (college NBL Olympics)

Just being in practice giving guys different looks is an important role on a championship team

I'd rock that ring everyday with pride

You have more rings than Vince Carter

I'm sure if anyone got injured he would have been a great role player in that team

Aussies are lucky charms of NBA champions, Gaze, Longley, Bogut, Mills, Dellavedova all won championships.. ben simmons , who's supposed to be the best of all of them is a big question mark. Baynes and Ingles can be an important piece in a championship team.

I remember watching live his Melbourne tigers take on the canberra canons in 96' in a playoffs match. Canons had Robert rose who was one of the most athletic and prolific scorers that year. to watch Gaze use his smarts and team leadership to dismantle the brilliance of the canons was amazing. such high basketball IQ that his limited athleticism really didn't matter.

Gazes was a ghost to guard at 6ft7 he needed to be guarded well beyond the arc ..he was surprisingly athletic too

Doesn’t matter about court time, he was a consummate professional and that’s all that matters. Greatest Australian player ever.

If you combine myself, Dominique Wilkins and Drewy we have won 1 NBA ring!

He's one of the greatest domestic players during the 90s when every kid followed basketball. Without him I doubt Australia would have such a strong roster of talent it has today. He deserves a ring for services rendered, no doubt about it.

Such a humble guy and legend wear that ring because not pouting on the bench, being a good teammate and pushing guys in practice are all valued and part of making a championship

If Steve Kerr got injured, he would've catapulted to being a better version of Steve. With no bias, just eye test, Gaze would've been a borderline star today & a bit like Reggie Miller back then if it wasn't so narrative driven. His story was just too unheralded back then for him to be groomed into that type of role.

Gaze... What a wonderful ambassador for basketball, sport and Australia. Champion in my book. Running scrimmages with NBA players is not easy feat. So he may have not seem much game time, but I am sure Coach Pop valued what Gaze brought.

Still remember in NBL Finals 93, trio of Gaze, Bradtke and Copeland, dismantle Vlahov, Fisher, Grace, and that centre (damn I had his name on the tip of my finger). With Vlahov last shot, in that series, that rattle around the rim and went out 😭😭😭, but still a good series to watch. Yeah, Gaze is that good.

Post the full video interview on RU-vid so we can watch it! 😀

He was a great internatiomal player playing for the Australia National Team.

Awesome, never Gaze fan. Now am!!!

As a old school, hard core Spurs and Tigers fan, I was crazy ecstatic when Gaze join the spurs. I went to lots of Tigers games back in the day. Then in 2009 I was able to go to San Antonio and see 2 games Vs Dallas and Utah. Dream come true... Then Patty becomes one of the all time great spurs and the greatest Aussie baller period after that epic Bronze medal game. . I'm 1 lucky Aussie basketball fan... I tell people all the time Gaze won a ring with the spurs. Nobody believes me....Also Pop told Tracey McGrady that he was insurance for the first finals against Miami. And Tracey was pretty darn good. So there is no shame in being insurance on the best team in all sports.

I think that you're one of the greatest Australian athletes . Honestly.

Gazey, Jack Haley played 1 game in the 95-96 season and won a ring, You did a bit more than that lol

Andrew Gaze is relevant. He is the best basketballer ever to play in the NBL.

Just another Aussie legend doing his thing without fuss.

The way his Spurs teammates speak about him you know he was nothing but a positive presence and important part of the team. I love this long-forgotten fact of his NBA championship. If he only he could have nabbed an Olympic medal as well.

All the athletes and teams of all sports and competitions in the world that I have ever watched and cheers for… should thank me! For giving them that crucial morale factor to get them over the line each and every time. Your welcome, I am the champ.

The Spurs mascot was on the court more than Gaze!

Can we get the whole thing on RU-vid?

Patty Mills has finished off what he started

Patty Mills and Andrew Gaze the only two Australians to win a championship with San Antonio Spurs.

You just earn yourself a fan, mate. 😇

I remember this dude from the Aussie Olympic team. They had a blonde hair point guard who was pretty good too.

Gaze to Copeland... great memories

legend

LMFAOO wtf? Gaze is a legend. Why's he downplaying himself. In the history of ball he's one of the .1% best players ever to play

Him and Jeremy linn

Different time back then. Rarely did talented foreign players ,with the exception of the centre position, received the respect of their American counterparts. Not because they weren't good enough but for the perception that they were too soft for the NBA. In the 90s only a handful of small position international players like Petrovic, Kukoc, Marciulonis were able to play solid minutes ,whereas players like Gaze, Schmidt ,Belov and even Heal, for that matter, did not get the respect they deserved. It's funny the next generation of Spurs became an internationally led team with Parker and Ginobli. Twenty years on ,4 of the top 10 players in the league are international, and two of them have won the league MVP for the last three years.

Andrew Gaze is the Andrew Gaze of Australian Basketball - the GOAT

Say what you want about his NBA career, but he's the GOAT in Australian Basketball and that is a better accolade than majority of NBA Players can accomplish.

Manu Ginobli cost the Spurs another championship against the Heat with his horrible game 6 and game 7. The Argentine thing is why Ginobli gets too much credit for his game.

I’ve never worn the ring but there’s a photo of me wearing the ring 🤷🏽‍♂️

Didn't he come in and break a bunch of training drill records etc, or was that just folklore? If he did, right there he's proven his worth, setting a standard.

Yeah five 0 !

great player but he went to the nba at the end of his career for the fun of it..

Eric Moreland was just as irrelevant for the 2019 raptors

No... Darko is the most "irrelevant" Champion ever! His nickname was the "Human Victory Cigar," he'd only play in blowouts at the end of a game.... If he was lucky too!

Um... Chris Jent is the GOAT of irrelevant championship players

thats a sweet ring!

Gaze is irrelevant all round

Seriously - you two fairies need to take this video down. Its fine for Gaze to make fun of himself - it is not ok for you two $&$&heads to do it. Headline is disrespectful. And does he still have the ring? Are you clowns serious?

Anyone here cuz of aunty donna