Working hard the key to Smack reaching 150

Pure hard work and determination is the only way Sam McDaniel has now reached 150 games in the NBL and it was all on the urging of a former star import 16 years ago that lit the fire under the Brisbane Bullets leader to work tirelessly.

McDaniel might be the son of former NBL import, Wayne, but he has had to work enormously hard for anything his entire basketball career. That's why he is rightfully proud to have reached 150 games in the league with his reputation cemented as an elite defender.

After four years in college split between Southeastern Community College and the University of Louisiana, Monroe, McDaniel returned to Australia and his first taste of the NBL was as a development player with Melbourne United.

He soon forced his way into a full roster spot by never giving up and working tirelessly, and by NBL21 played a crucial role in their championship triumph.

Following that, he joined the Tasmania JackJumpers and helped them to a Grand Final series in NBL22 before remaining across Bass Strait and having a dominant 2022 NBL1 South season leading the Hobart Chargers to a championship as Grand Final MVP.

He would end up joining the Bullets ahead of NBL24 and even though a shoulder injury limited him to one appearance in NBL25 and then he hurt an ankle in the second game of NBL26 before returning following the FIBA break, his impact on the club has remained significant.

That's because of the strong character he is and the standards he sets, and it's through his heart and determination that's now allowed him to become a 150-game NBL player as of Thursday night even if it was in a disappointing road loss to the Illawarra Hawks.

Having just turned 30 in recent days as well and now being a father, it's been quite the journey for McDaniel to now be a 150-game player which gives him the chance to reflect on where it all started back in Adelaide as a teenager when he shifted to basketball from football.

"Absolutely, man, looking back I started playing basketball at 14 when Rashad Tucker in Adelaide put a ball in my hands and just told me to work as hard as I possibly can," McDaniel said.

"That's what I did and it's been an honour, it's been a blessing to be able to get to 150 games and after sitting out the best part of two years, one thing I've learned is to never take it for granted.

"Being back around my teammates and the coaching staff and high performance staff, and playing again, just the energy from being back in that team setting is something I wouldn’t trade for anything."

Bullets coach Stu Lash also paid tribute to McDaniel following his 150th game highlighting just how much he means to the club on and off the court.

"This guy is a really big part of who we are culturally as much as what we do on the floor, he's a standard setter for us and he missed a lot of time at the start of this year," Lash said.

"That was hard on the group and it was hard on me because I lean on him a lot just because of how hard he plays, and how well he understands the game plan.

"What he does doesn’t always show up on the stat sheet but I want to make sure I acknowledge his milestone and the same thing with Tyrell (Harrison), it was his 150th game as well. Those are big milestones for these guys and they should be proud of that."

 

 

 

 

 

View this post on Instagram

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A post shared by Brisbane Bullets (@brisbanebullets)

While McDaniel has remained a strong presence around the Bullets, he's been frustrated to have been sidelined after shoulder surgery for virtually all of NBL25 after an injury suffered after his MVP NBL1 North season where he led the Brisbane Capitals to the Grand Final.

He then returned strongly with the Caps in the 2025 NBL1 North season helping them back to the Grand Final, but then against Cairns back on September 26 just as he was finding his groove again in the NBL, he suffered a serious ankle injury.

That left him sidelined until he returned last Friday night in Adelaide following the FIBA break, he got through another 26 minutes on Thursday in Wollongong.

While he's still picking up being back out on an NBL court, he's relieved to return.

"I feel good out there but I feel a bit of a step behind I guess. It's hard to replicate that game speed and those game reps so I just think I'll only get better and better as the season goes on now, and the reps get up there," McDaniel said.

"I'm super grateful to be back but the difference this time was I had a date set on the return so I had that silver lining and it wasn’t just hearing the rest of the season you're out.

"It was that I would be back by this game or date so that let me stay a bit more optimistic with the injury, and it's good to be back at it now."

It's remarkable to think that McDaniel is now in a third season with the Bullets but Sunday afternoon against the Perth Wildcats will be his first game at the Brisbane Entertainment Centre.

In his first season back in NBL24 the Bullets were still calling Nissan Arena home and then in his lone appearance of NBL25, that was in Perth as part of HoopsFest in Round 1 against the New Zealand Breakers.

Then in the first games of NBL26, they were both on the road for the Bullets so Sunday is an occasion McDaniel can't wait for. To celebrate he hopes the Bullets can turn around the things they need to work on following Thursday's loss to the Hawks.

"It's my first time playing at BEC so I'm very excited for that on Sunday," McDaniel said.

"Obviously it always helps when you're making shots and you just hope to make more shots than we did in the second half, but I think there's a lot of detail orientated things that we can get better at.

"We're also trying to gel as a team after bringing guys in, and we're still trying to find our groove a little bit."