Shadow Boxer: NBL legend’s son four-word warning after career night

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Straight to the pool room: 22-year-old Max Mackinnon ($200,000) spectacularly stepped out of his NBL legend father Sam's shadow, torching the Illawarra Hawks for 31 points in Brisbane's 103-95 win at the Brisbane Entertainment Centre in Round 2 of NBL27 on Friday, September 25, 2026.

"He's done his stuff; now it's my time," Mackinnon declared at centre court after setting a career high in both points and rebounds. His father's career high of 35 came in a triple-double for Townsville on October 21, 2000 (35-10-10) in a 120-85 win against Cairns.

Mackinnon was just three years old when Sam won a championship with the Brisbane Bullets in 2007, the league MVP and defensive player of the year. Nineteen years later, his boy announced his arrival in a revitalised Bullets team led by new head coach Will Weaver.

"Just grateful," Max said.

"It's a good group of guys. I think any guy on any given night can do that. Everyone can impact. Me tonight, but anyone on our roster can make an impact. As I said, it's a good group to be on, but we're still building. We're going to keep on stacking."

The Bullets faithful has already embraced the son of one of their favourite sons.

"It's special for sure," he added.

"Having my high school mates there and going to them after the game, it's pretty cool. Just be where my feet are and be grateful for the opportunity that I have here. I'm not going to waste it."

Mackinnon closed out his NCAA Division I men's career with the LSU Tigers earlier this year, was a standout at the 2026 Eurocamp, winning the Grand Final MVP and was part of the Charlotte Hornets NBA Summer League roster.

"Coming back to the Entertainment Centre, it was crazy.

"I remember coming here – my birthday is in October, and that's usually kind of when the season started. I remember a Perth versus Brisbane game, and Mitch Norton ($160,600) was playing for Perth. It's just crazy.

"Like I said, being where my feet are and just super grateful for it, staying in the now and going moment by moment. It's pretty cool."

Weaver has led the Bullets to 2-0, has built a rock-solid roster, including one of the league's premium point guards – Arnas Velicka ($277,000) – to pair with elite big Tyrell Harrison ($336,100).

But it was another part of Mackinnon's game that Weaver called out in the post-game press conference.

"Rebounding," Weaver said.

"There's just not a lot of humans on Earth that can bring that approach to the boards. We had our hands full.

"Illawarra is a good basketball team, despite being 0–2, and they have a lot of weapons. It took sometimes three or four guys to box out (William Hickey) and (Johny Narkle) and Sam (Froling) and those guys.

"Max came screaming in and got the rebounds, and then helped us create some pace out of those situations, which really helps us."

Velicka finished with another double-double (17 points and 11 assists), while Harrison had 17 points, five rebounds and four assists.

The dysfunctional Bullets won just six games last season, but Weaver's appointment as head coach and president of basketball operations has Brisbane fans celebrating two wins in two games.

"We're going to keep building," Weaver said.

"Never too high, never too low. I couldn't be less focused on what our record is. I had no idea he had 30 points tonight until somebody told me after the game. None of our focus is on outcomes.

"All of our focus is on process, and that's how you end up with outcomes. Sometimes you go six of eight, and sometimes you go two of eight. If it's the exact same shots, you feel the exact same way about it.

"I don't think there's a risk of that, based on what I feel from our group.

"The standard is going to continue to remain high, and we don't sign one-way players.

"We don't sign guys that don't compete on both ends every possession. If I see that drop, I substitute them, and we trust that the next guy coming in will be able to bring us back to that standard.

"I credit these guys. A lot of the time that I'm subbing, it's just because they're tired, because they're playing their ass off. We can be a team that hands the baton off and plays with that mentality, as long as we keep the standard where it is."

What you need to know

• Brisbane Bullets beat Illawarra Hawks 103-95 at Brisbane Entertainment Centre in NBL27 Round 2.
• Brisbane won three of the four quarters, 25-18, 25-24, 23-24 and 30-29, and trailed only once all night, at 15-16 in the first.
• Max Mackinnon top-scored with 31 points and 12 rebounds on 11-from-16, and Tyler Harvey led Illawarra with 20 off the bench on 8-from-23.
• Illawarra took 34 three-pointers and made 12. Brisbane took 29 and made nine.
• Both sides made 39 field goals from 83 attempts, so the game was decided at the free-throw line: Brisbane shot 16-from-23, Illawarra 5-from-14.

Brisbane Bullets

• Max Mackinnon ($200,000) top-scored with 31 points and 12 rebounds on 11-from-16, including 6-from-8 from three.
• Arnas Velicka ($277,000) had 17 points and 11 assists on 6-from-18, the only double-digit assist tally on either side.
• Tyrell Harrison ($336,100) scored 17 on 8-from-12 with five rebounds and four assists.
• Nate Hinton ($277,000) added 16 points, 10 rebounds and four steals on 5-from-11.
• Jacob Holt ($176,300) scored 12 off the bench on 5-from-7 in 14 minutes.
• Jaylin Williams ($277,000) finished with four points, four rebounds and a plus-13 in 22 minutes.
• Lat Mayen ($69,000) pulled six rebounds, three of them offensive, and scored four.
• Brisbane shot 39-from-83 from the field, 9-from-29 from three and 16-from-23 at the line, with 51 rebounds, 23 assists and 12 turnovers.

Illawarra Hawks

• Tyler Harvey ($271,700) led the Hawks with 20 points off the bench on 8-from-23, including 4-from-11 from three.
• Milton Doyle ($274,700) scored 16 with five assists and five rebounds on 7-from-14.
• Johny Narkle ($69,000) scored 15 on 6-from-8 in 22 minutes off the bench.
• William Hickey ($331,600) had 11 points and six rebounds on 4-from-10.
• Sam Froling ($228,200) posted 10 points and 10 rebounds, six of them offensive, on 5-from-8.
• Kelan Martin ($277,000) scored eight on 3-from-11 in 33 minutes.
• Wani Swaka Lo Buluk ($145,200) did not miss, 2-from-2 and both from deep, for six points in 12 minutes.
• Illawarra shot 39-from-83 from the field, 12-from-34 from three and 5-from-14 at the line, with 44 rebounds, 19 assists and 11 turnovers.

Illawarra Hawks head coach Justin Tatum admitted his team was still building chemistry.

"We've got a lot of guys who are ball-dominant and understand they can score the ball at any time," Tatum said.

"It's getting them to see each other's skill sets on the floor and within the offence we're trying to work with.

"I understand the competitive nature when you're down, or you see someone you think you can exploit defensively, to just go on your own. But that's not how we need to do it around here. It takes time.

"We'll build, and this offence will be fluid really soon."