| Intro | American-Slovenian professional basketball player |
| Is |
Athlete Basketball player |
| From | United States of America |
| Type | Sports |
| Gender | male |
| Birth | 5 January 1972, Harvey, Illinois, U.S.A. |
| Age: | 48 years |
Ariel Rene McDonald (born January 5, 1972) is an American-Slovenian retired professional basketball player. He played at the point guard position. A high quality floor general who was the FIBA SuproLeague Final Four MVP in 2001 and an All-Euroleague Second Team member in 2002, McDonald played for top European teams like Montepaschi Siena, Olimpija Ljubljana, Maccabi Tel Aviv, Panathinaikos, Akasvayu Girona, and Dynamo Moscow.
Early life
McDonald began his high school career at Homewood-Flossmoor High School outside of Chicago. He averaged 24 points on 63% field-goals, and 10 assists per game. After two years at Homewood-Flossmoor, McDonald’s family moved to Raleigh, North Carolina. McDonald took his new high school, Athens Drive High School, to the final four in North Carolina.
In the fall of 1989, McDonald arrived at the University of Minnesota. In his first year of college, McDonald was red-shirted. He and the Gophers greatly improved over the next four years, winning the 1993 NIT and reaching the second round of the 1994 NCAA Tournament in McDonald’s senior year.
European career
McDonald began his career in Europe playing for small teams like Castors Braine (Belgium) and Interier Krško (Slovenia). After his time in Interier Krsko he was taken to the top Slovenian basketball club: Olimpija Ljubljana. During his time in Slovenia he played in the top flight of international basketball, achieving great success in European tournaments. McDonald’s next stop was Maccabi Tel Aviv. Soon McDonald became very famous in Israel, and together with Nate Huffman and Anthony Parker turned Maccabi into one of the best European basketball teams. In McDonald’s three seasons with Maccabi the club won the FIBA SuproLeague title (2001) and twice reached the Euroleague Final Four (2000, 2002). One of McDonald’s claims to fame in Israel was a Burger King commercial in which he said: “Listen to McDonald – only Burger King”. McDonald played 139 games, scoring 1,606 points for Maccabi Tel Aviv in three years. Finally, he said goodbye and moved to one of Maccabi’s biggest rivals: Panathinaikos. With Panathinaikos, McDonald put up solid numbers and also 19 points in the first game he played against his former team Maccabi Tel Aviv. McDonald played for Akasvayu Girona in the Spanish ACB League from season 2005-06 up until July 2008. Then he returned to Dynamo Moscow, for which he had previously played with in the 2004-05 season.
Slovenian national team
McDonald was also a member of the senior men’s Slovenian national basketball team. He played with Slovenia’s senior national team at the FIBA EuroBasket 2001.
Personal life
After playing for two years in Slovenia, McDonald became a Slovenian citizen in June 1997.
Currently, McDonald is a high school basketball coach at Providence Academy in Plymouth, Minnesota.
Honours
Slovenian League: 1997, 1998, 1999
Slovenian Cup: 1997, 1998, 1999
Israeli League: 2000, 2001, 2002
Israeli Cup: 2000, 2001, 2002
FIBA SuproLeague: 2001
Greek League: 2003, 2004
Greek Cup: 2003
FIBA Eurocup: 2007