The man, the myth, the legend 'Money Mike'

'Money' Mike Scott epitomises everything about the community that pulls together to make Cairns Basketball and the Cairns Taipans continue to fight against the odds, but he also was quick to pay tribute to Queensland's first responders.

'Money Mike' stole the show when Taipans coach Adam Forde brought his team manager into the press conference after their last game of the season on Saturday night, a 90-83 defeat to the Tasmania JackJumpers.

It was a heartwarming move from Forde who has just completed a fourth season coaching the Snakes with the last three of those having Scott as his team manager.

That is just the latest role within either Cairns Basketball or at the Taipans that 'Money Mike' has undertaken. Forde wanted  to highlight how important people like him are to sporting clubs.

"Money's on the board, he's our team manager, he's involved with the Marlins and he was the general manager of Cairns Basketball," Forde said.

"He wears multiple hats and this is just a snapshot of the Cairns basketball community where there are a lot of good people who do a lot of the heavy lifting.

"Money's been with us for three seasons and he's done an outstanding job, and I've pushed him to the brink a couple of times.

"He's got us lost on a bunch of road trips, but he's always delivered and he's just one example of a lot of people behind the scenes who do a lot of heavy lifting to have this team ready and prepared so I can just do what I do without having to think about the logistics.

"He's Money Mike - the man, the myth, the legend."

There is no other place to start with 'Money Mike' than finding out where his nickname came from. It turns out it goes back to reigning NBL1 North championship winning Mackay Meteors, and Illawarra Hawks assistant coach, Joel Khalu.

"It goes back a long, long way and I blame Joel Khalu for it. He's assistant coach at Illawarra Hawks now and he was involved in the Marlins back then and the boys in the locker room wanted to do something," Scott said.

"I don’t remember what it was but Joel said to the group that if we can get 'Money Mike' to say yes then it'll happen. I was the general manager of Cairns Basketball at the time and that's where it started."

Given his long involvement and dedication to basketball in Cairns and his impact on the sport in the region in all areas, it's only fitting that he takes great pride when local products make it big on a global stage.

There are Aron Baynes and Nate Jawai as shining examples of NBA players who came out of Cairns. Now 'Money Mike' was thrilled to see Shaneice Swain signed by WNBA club the Los Angeles Sparks on the back of what she's currently doing in the WNBL at the Sydney Flames.

"Just as an example of Cairns Basketball's contribution to higher and elite level basketball in the region, this week one of our juniors, another one, signed a contract to go to the WNBA," Scott said.

"That was Shaneice Swain. She's the first of our females to go to the WNBA and the third of our juniors to get to that level after Nate Jawai and Aron Baynes went to the NBA.

"So for a little association of 1500 members in Far North Queensland, to have three people go to the NBA is just amazing.

"The Taipans association with Cairns Basketball has been a catalyst for that because since the Taipans came into town, we had all the elite coaches and programs for our juniors to go to another level. That's the heart of the relationship."

Having just completed a third season as a team manager in the NBL, 'Money Mike' has enjoyed the bond he shares with his comrades at rival teams.

The other thing that quickly springs to mind is the first responders he wanted to thank who have been helping with the tough times in Far North Queensland in recent weeks which puts winning or losing basketball games into perspective.

"I want to give a big shoutout to my fraternity of team managers," Scott said.

"In Tassie here, you've got young Matty Blackwell who's 19 and at the other end of the spectrum there's myself and I'm not going to disclose my age but I was born in the 50s.

"The other thing I'd like to shout out abouts was that two weeks ago the Brisbane Bullets and Cairns Taipans celebrated first responders.

"The last week or two in North Queensland has been really difficult and we must say thank you to all those first responders."