Mark Davis (basketball, born 1960)

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Mark Davis (basketball, born 1960) : biography

December 23, 1960 –

Ken Cole was sacked as coach following the 1986 championship and in his place came Gary Fox. Despite the change of coach, Davis’ great form continued in 1987 and he was rewarded when he was named joint NBL MVP with Brisbane’s Leroy Loggins (as of the end of the 2011-12 NBL season Davis is the only 36er to win the league’s highest individual award), while also gaining All-NBL First Team honours. Davis averaged 26.1 points and 17.5 rebounds in his MVP season and 1987 saw the 36ers finish the regular season in 1st place, but the defending champions were bundled out in a 3 game Semi-final series against the emerging Perth Wildcats. The season was also the first year that Davis led the league in total rebounding, an achievement he would repeat in 1992.

1987 also saw the start of the rivalry between Davis and Perth Wildcats 6’8" (203 cm) Power Forward / Centre James Crawford. Both were import players (until Davis became an Australian citizen), and friends off the court. Davis and Crawford would electrify the crowds at the Apollo Stadium or Clipsal Powerhouse in Adelaide and the Superdome and Entertainment Centre in Perth, with their spectacular dunks, general athleticism and rebounding with each often playing a major role in their teams wins.

Early in his NBL career Davis attained the nickname ‘Chairman of the Boards’ because of his dominance on the boards and in 1990 he was named captain of the 36ers. Under coach Mike Dunlap, the 36ers won a place in the 1994 Grand Final series against North Melbourne Giants, though Davis’ imact was limited after suffering a dislocated shoulder in Adelaide’s win over reigning NBL champions the Melbourne Tigers in the Semi-finals with the team missing his scoring and rebounding (he averaged 21.7 points and 12.9 rebounds in the regular season and had averaged 16.5 points and 11.3 rebounds in the playoffs).

Mark Davis remained captain of the 36ers until the end of 1996 when he was replaced by Brett Maher. He would go on to win two more NBL championships (now as a sixth man) in 1998 and 1998-1999. On the 13th of December 1999 in a 90 to 74 win over the Brisbane Bullets Davis grabbed his 5,000th NBL rebound, becoming the first NBL player to do so. Davis’ rebounding record of 5,200 was broken by former 36ers team mate Mark Bradtke on Friday November 21, 2003 in Adelaide, with Davis on hand to present Bradtke with the match ball. A year after retiring, he came to Nuriootpa Primary School and gave out free tickets and calendars.