There’s no prizes for guessing the top choice in this selection but Emmet Ryan has scoured the archives in hard mode. Who will join Claire Melia in this ranking of the top 5 individual singles game performances in basketball by Irish citizens?
Welcome to hard mode. That’s how I’d best describe this. The easy choice for me here would have been to stick with people that have represented Ireland internationally. Why on earth would I make life so easy for myself?
No, my friends, you see the world of basketball is part of the wider world. That means people in most countries can hold more than one citizenship. That’s why this ranking is going to include all Irish citizens. One of the entries had their outing before becoming an Irish citizen while another plays internationally for a different team. That doesn’t stop them from making this list. We begin however with a few honourable mentions.
Honourable mentions: Pat Connaughton, Marty Conlon, Jim Moran, and Donnie McGrath
All four are American born and all four make the list for specific outings. In Marty Conlon’s case, it’s his 22 point outing for the Boston Celtics in a win over the Philadelphia 76ers on 18 April 1997. That was the second time he scored 22 points and, indeed, was the most points scored by an Irish citizen in the NBA for over 20 years.
That was until Pat Connaughton had 24 points for the Portland Trail Blazers on 18 October 2017. Those points came in an opening night win over the Phoenix Suns.
Donnie McGrath makes the list for his 27 points on 9 of 9 three point shooting for Providence against Virginia in NCAA ball on 2 February 2005. Jim Moran’s inclusion is for his 25 point outing for Gran Canaria against Hemofarm (now KK Vrsac) in Eurocup on 7 November 2006. Now we get to the big five.
5. Mike Hall (Olimpia Milano) vs Olympiacos – Euroleague – 5 March 2009
Prior to Connaughton, Mike Hall was the most recent Irish citizen to play in the NBA. He had a stint with the Washington Wizards in 2007. Still, it’s with Olimpia Milano that he is most fondly remembered.
Hall’s best night in a Milano shirt, or really at any adult level of basketball, came away to Olympiacos. He scored 27 points, snared 9 rebounds, and had 3 steals in a losing effort. A few years later, Hall would become an Irish citizen but sadly never wore the national team jersey.
4. Susan Moran (St Joseph’s) vs St Bonaventure – NCAA – 24 February 2002
Susan Moran remains the only Irish woman drafted in the WNBA. The New York Liberty selected her in the second round of the 2002 draft. The county Offaly native (more on that to come) hit her career high in points in college basketball just a few months prior.
Moran had 38 points for St Joseph’s in a comeback win over the Bonnies in this A10 match-up. A whopping 33 of those came in the second half. Moran is also where the limitations on stats from prior to 2010 prove challenging.
Her averages for the Ireland national team often impressed. Getting single game box scores for these however has proven difficult. That’s why this NCAA outburst is her entry on the list.
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3. Pat Burke (Maroussi) vs PAOK – Greek League – 6 May 2002
Pat Burke is the only Irish born player in NBA history. Remarkably, like Moran he was born in Offaly. For context for our non-Irish readers, Offaly accounts for about 1.6 per cent of the Irish population. Despite this, it accounts for the sole Irish born players in both NBA and WNBA history.
Again, like Moran, limited access to records has hampered the selection with Burke. He played a lot of basketball for some great teams but his best probably came with Maroussi, the side he joined after Panathinaikos. I couldn’t access his Korac Cup stats from 2002 so instead we jump to the Greek League playoffs in 2002.
Burke had a few meaty outings but this one, from a win over PAOK, saw Burke rack up 15 points, 13 rebounds, and 3 assists. That’s more than enough to rank amongst the best single game performances by an Irish basketball player.
James Metecan Birsen may be best known for his play with the Turkish national side but he’s an Irish citizen thanks to his mother.
2. James Metecan Birsen (Karsiyaka) vs Nymburk – Basketball Champions League – 5 May 2021
This one definitely wasn’t on the radar of most Irish basketball fans. James Metecan Birsen is a long tenured Turkish international. He is currently with Fenerbahce in Euroleague and had a decorated underage career with his homeland in addition to his long stint with the senior side.
He also has an Irish mammy and is listed as Irish usually in European club competitions. I said this list was in hard mode and James Metecan Birsen is proof of that.
His entry came with Karsiyaka in the Basketball Champions League, where he reached the final with that side in 2021. It’s his performance in the quarter final that we’ll focus on here. Birsen had 12 points, 13 rebounds, and 3 assists in the Turkish club’s win over Nymburk.
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1. Claire Melia (Baxi Ferrol) vs Asvel – Eurocup Women – 6 March 2025
The choice you were all expecting but it merits repeating. Claire Melia had the best single game performance by an Irish basketball player ever on Thursday night. Her 27 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists, and 1 steal saw her finish the night with a 28 efficiency score.
It’s not just the pure stats, it’s the context. She did this in a Eurocup Women semi-final. That’s immediately a higher bar than anything else on this list. Granted Mike Hall’s entry might merit debate there given it was at Euroleague level but it was also much earlier in that competition.
The sheer dominance of Claire Melia on such a stage and having that kind of stat line makes this an easy choice. There have been several contenders, indeed I wouldn’t have thought about James Metecan Birsen’s Karsiyaka stint in this context prior to Melia’s outing. Still, there’s only one winner. At least, for now.
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