Michael Linklater
Michael Linklater (born September 25, 1982) is a retired Canadian basketball player. He last played for the Saskatchewan Rattlers in the Canadian Elite Basketball League (CEBL). He is a Nehiyaw (Cree). Linklater received the 2018 Tom Longboat Award, which recognizes Aboriginal athletes "for their outstanding contributions to sport in Canada". He won the 2018 Inspire Award in the sports category. Early life Linklater was born in Trenton, New Jersey on September 25, 1982. He is a Nehiyaw (Cree) and a descendant of the Thunderchild First Nation, located on Treaty 6 Territory. Linklater was raised by his great aunt Maria, and her husband, Walter, who became his legal guardians in Thunder Bay, Ontario. At age 10, both he and his guardians moved to Saskatoon. At 16, he legally changed his last name to Linklater, matching his legal guardians. Linklater learned how to play basketball in grade school. He attended an inner-city school and was exposed to alcohol and drug abuse from an early age in both his community and in his extended family. His birth mother struggled with drug and alcohol addiction, both of his grandparents died of alcoholism and his half-brother lost his life in his early 20s. His guardians