How Aussie great plans to fly high with Southside

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Two-time Olympian and Australian basketball legend Sam Mackinnon hadn't thought much about coaching women during his time on the sidelines in the NBL but has revealed how the stars aligned for him to take over one of the biggest clubs in the WNBL in the Southside Melbourne Flyers.

Long believed by many to be an NBL coach in waiting, Mackinnon had been an interim head coach both with the Brisbane Bullets and South East Melbourne Phoenix, but the opportunity to run a program long term didn't come his way.

Those moments left him wondering if he'd ever be able to reach his goal of becoming a head coach in the Australia professional landscape before a meeting with the Flyers hierarchy changed everything and placed him on a path he didn't see coming.

"(Becoming the Flyers coach) was something that wasn't expected," Mackinnon said on the latest edition of the Cut to the Jase podcast with Jason Cadee.

"I've been in the men's side for a long time and just recently spent some time over in China and came back from there and there was a situation last year where I did meet with the Flyers about potentially working with Kristi (Harrower) but nothing eventuated from that.

"I think just this time season finished, Mark Wright reached out and we met and pretty quickly and he was meeting other candidates and talking to other people that day. I just said to him, Mark, I've been around long enough to know that you guys are behind the eight ball, so whoever you employ, you need to employ ASAP because free agency starts in a week, everyone's been negotiating.

"So, it kind of went from there. Met with (Flyers owner) Gerry (Ryan) on the Friday, had a good conversation and really good alignment and he asked me if I wanted the job.

"I was super excited and it's a new challenge for me and it's been a hectic three or four weeks, but I think something which now we're starting to come out of and there's definitely a way forward for the Flyers and I can't wait to get into it."

The two-time NBL champion and former league MVP said he was ready to return to a nine-to-five regular job after coming back to Melbourne from China before the Flyers reached out.

"I'd been involved with the Phoenix that didn't uh eventuate there to be kept on staff, so also some other things happened in the meantime with basketball and jobs and and I've been in China with Mike Kelly, and I just moved on to literally I'd started work," he said on the basketball.com.au show.

"I was doing a career pivot and I was looking to go and work a 9am to 5pm role and I got accepted in that and I just just started it four weeks ago and this came out and just for me, it's so exciting.

"The women's game is you've seen all the news in the last month with the WNBA, the salaries, the opportunities, the Project B and Unrivaled opportunities, and I just think knowing a little bit about Gerry Ryan and how passionate he is with women's sport, in particular basketball, for me at my age, I have a perfect alignment with an owner who wants exactly what I want.

"I want to develop the best young Melbourne talent for the next two or three years and then make a run at the championship. We're not trying to win this thing by going out and buying players every year, year on year.

"I just see like being back in Melbourne, there is so many great junior basketball players and NBL1 South is strong. So, we'll have some players that we hope are from NBL1, young juniors coming through and then girls that have gone to college and coming back.

"For me, the excitement is real and learned a lot the last four weeks with just talking to the girls about opportunities and not promising, but just breaking down their game, what they can get better at, what they do really well, and what we can lean into.

"I actually think I've become a better communicator over the last month. It's been unreal."