Sean Macdonald

Sean Matthew Macdonald (born 21 April 2000) is an Australian professional basketball player for the Darwin Salties of the NBL1 North. He is also contracted with the Tasmania JackJumpers of the National Basketball League (NBL). He joined the JackJumpers in 2021 as a development player. In 2024, he won the NBL Most Improved Player Award and helped the JackJumpers win the NBL championship.

Early life and career
Macdonald grew up in Melbourne, Victoria, and played as a junior with the Dandenong Rangers. He helped the Under 18 Victoria Metro state team to the 2017 national title and the Under 20 Victoria state team to the 2018 national title.

In January 2018, Macdonald signed with the Kilsyth Cobras of the South East Australian Basketball League (SEABL). In 14 games during the 2018 SEABL season, he averaged 8.2 points, 1.9 rebounds and 2.1 assists per game.

Macdonald returned to the Cobras in 2019 for the inaugural season of the NBL1. In 17 games, he averaged 10 points, 2.2 rebounds and 3.0 assists in 23.2 minutes per game.

Macdonald was set to join the Dandenong Rangers for the 2020 NBL1 season, but the season was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. After spending the 2020–21 NBL season training with the South East Melbourne Phoenix, Macdonald re-joined the Rangers for the 2021 NBL1 South season.

Professional career
In August 2021, Macdonald signed with the Tasmania JackJumpers as a development player for the team's inaugural season in the NBL in 2021–22. He made eight appearances in his first season and was part of the JackJumpers team that reached the 2022 NBL Grand Final series.

Macdonald joined the North-West Tasmania Thunder for the 2022 NBL1 South season and averaged 17.7 points, 3.5 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 2.0 steals per game.

In June 2022, Macdonald re-signed with the JackJumpers as a development player for the 2022–23 NBL season. He saw increased minutes in the first half of the season while Clint Steindl recovered from injury. He subsequently signed a new two-year contract with the team on 6 January 2023 to remain as a development player in 2023–24 and become a full-time roster player in 2024–25. He went on to cover for the injured Josh Magette later in the season. He finished the season averaging 6.3 points, 2.0 rebounds and 1.5 assists in 21 minutes per game, proving himself a knockdown shooter and playmaker. He was nominated for the Most Improved Player award.

Macdonald joined the Darwin Salties for the 2023 NBL1 North season and averaged 14.7 points, 5.0 assists, 4.7 rebounds and 1.8 steals per game.

In the 2023–24 NBL season, Macdonald played in every game for the JackJumpers as a development player. On 1 January 2024, he scored a team-high 23 points and hit seven of nine 3-point attempts in a loss to the New Zealand Breakers. He was nominated for the Best Sixth Man award and was the recipient of the NBL Most Improved Player Award. He helped the JackJumpers reach the 2024 grand final series, where they defeated Melbourne United 3–2 to win the NBL championship. Macdonald started in game five of the series. He appeared in all 37 games and averaged eight points, 2.2 rebounds and 2.4 assists per game.

Macdonald re-joined the Salties for the 2024 NBL1 North season.

After being elevated to a fully rostered player for the 2024–25 NBL season, Macdonald extended his contract with the JackJumpers on 2 May 2024 for an additional year until the end of 2025–26 season.

National team career
In 2016, Macdonald was a member of the Australian under 17 national team that finished seventh at the FIBA Under-17 World Championship in Spain. In 2017, he helped the Australian under 17 team win gold at the FIBA Under-17 Oceania Championship. He played for Australia at the 2018 FIBA Under-18 Asian Championship and 2019 FIBA Under-19 Basketball World Cup.

Macdonald made his debut for the Australian Boomers during the 2023 FIBA Basketball World Cup Asian qualifiers.