MATTHEW NIELSEN

'Matthew Nielsen' (born February 3, 1978, in Penrith, New South Wales) is an Australian basketball player currently playing in the Lithuanian Basketball League for BC Lietuvos Rytas in Vilnius, Lithuania.
Nielsen began his professional basketball career in the Australian National Basketball League in 1995 for the Sydney Kings, although he only played two games that year [1]. Nielsen was still considered a rookie for the 1997 season and won the NBL's Rookie of the Year award. 1997 also saw Nielsen win a Gold Medal with the Australian Under 22 in the 1997 World Championships.
In 2003, Nielsen won his first NBL championship with the Kings when they defeated the Perth Wildcats for their first title. The following year, Nielsen became captain of the Kings after Shane Heal retired from the NBL. Nielsen captained the Kings to their second NBL championship in spectacular form receiving both the Most Valuable Player award for the 2004 season, but also the Grand Final MVP award and a place in the 2004 NBL First Team.
Following this success Nielsen left the NBL to play basketball in Europe. Matt played his first season in Europe for PAOK Thessaloniki in Greece and enjoyed some success individually. Matt has played in Lithuania for BC Lietuvos Rytas ever since. Nielsen has also competed for the Australian Boomers in the 2004 Summer Olympics.
During his NBL career, Nielsen played 236 games [2].