Mark Bradtke

Bradtke was born in the southern Adelaide suburb of Noarlunga and began playing basketball in 1984 while attending Redcliffe State High School north of Brisbane in Queensland (by that stage he was already 6'8" (203 cm)). Spotted by Adelaide 36ers coach Ken Cole who signed him to the 36ers as a 16-year-old, Bradtke was tipped to make his NBL debut in 1986, but he decided to attend the Australian Institute of Sport where he attended on a scholarship in 1986 and 1987.[2]

Bradtke started his NBL career with the Adelaide 36ers in 1988, though by that time the team was being coached by Gary Fox. That same year saw the now 6'10" (208 cm) Bradtke was a member of the Australian Boomers team at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, South Korea, helping the team to an Olympic best ever finish of fourth place with a 4–4 record, losing the bronze medal game to the United States team which included future NBA players Dan Majerle and David Robinson. At the time, 18-year-old Bradtke was the youngest player ever having represented Australia in Basketball at the Summer Olympics (he would turn 19 during the preliminary rounds).

Bradtke's star continued to rise in the NBL and in 1989 was named the NBL's Most Improved Player. After playing back up centre to 6'9" (206 cm) 36ers team captain Bill Jones in 1988 (and playing some games at power forward), with Jones departing the team for the Ken Cole-coached Newcastle Falcons, Bradtke made the centre position his own in 1989 and 1990, averaging 17.4 points and 9.3 rebounds per game over 24 games in 1990.

Bradtke would spend another two seasons with the 36ers before taking up a short contract with Spanish club Juver Murcia following the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona, Spain. Before he left he signed an agreement with the 36ers stating that he would finish his one-year contract with the club should he return within a certain time. Upon his return to Australia, Bradtke stated his intention not to return to the 36ers with the Melbourne Tigers rumoured to be actively chasing him. After protracted negotiations with 36ers management that led to the club being prepared to buy out his remaining contract, the NBL stepped in and vetoed the buy out, effectively letting Bradtke leave for Melbourne without the 36ers receiving any compensation for the remainder of his contract with the club. For Bradtke personally, the move to Melbourne allowed him to be closer to his then girlfriend and later wife, internationally ranked tennis player Nicole Provis. Despite playing only 17 games in 1992 in what would prove to be his last season in Adelaide, Bradtke was second in total rebounds for the 36ers to Mark Davis and in his final game for the club against the Geelong Supercats at the Clipsal Powerhouse he scored a career high 43 points and grabbed 25 boards in a dominating performance.[3] In all, Bradtke played 118 games for the Adelaide 36ers, including 9 finals games, averaging 15.4 points, 9.6 rebounds and 1.6 blocks per game.

Despite his less than harmonious split from the 36ers in 1992 which resulted in the Adelaide crowd regularly booing Bradtke for the rest of his career, in November 2015 Adelaide fans finally recognised his contribution not only to the 36ers but also the NBL when they voted him the best centre to ever play for the 36ers in an online poll conducted by Adelaide's daily newspaper The Advertiser. Bradtke received 35.71% of the votes to beat out former teammate Bill Jones (25.17%) and 36ers triple championship winning centre Paul Rees (23.81%).[4]

After spending the NBL off-season with Spanish League team Juver Murcia, Bradtke started with the Tigers in 1993, and after a slow start came on strong from mid-season helping the team to their fifth NBL playoffs in a row and their second grand final series in succession. Melbourne won their first ever NBL Championship with a 2–1 series win over the Perth Wildcats which included their first ever win at the Perth Entertainment Centre in the third and deciding game. He averaged 17 points, 12.7 rebounds and 1.5 blocks per game in 33 games played in 1993. Combining with star players Andrew Gaze (a fellow Boomer) and American imports Lanard Copeland and Dave Simmons, Bradtke's arrival helped transform the Tigers from a pretenders to a genuine championship team. The team would win their second NBL title in 1997 when they defeated cross-Melbourne rivals the South East Melbourne Magic 2–1 in the Grand Final, reversing the result from the 1996 series.

While with the 36ers, Bradtke established himself as one of the premier centres in the NBL and following the Tigers 1993 championship, the then twice Olympic representative was regarded as the best centre in the league. Bradtke's form with the Tigers continued over the next nine seasons before finally receiving the ultimate individual accolade by being crowned the 2001–02 NBL Most Valuable Player. He was also voted to the All NBL First Team in 1994, 1996, 1997 and consecutively from 1999–2005 and was also selected to the NBL 20th Anniversary Team in 1998 and the NBL 25th Anniversary Team in 2003.

After 377 NBL games with the Melbourne Tigers, Bradtke played his last season with them in 2004–05. For the 2005-06 season he signed with the Brisbane Bullets, winning his third NBL title when the Bullets defeated his former team the Melbourne Tigers 3–1 in the 2006-07 NBL Grand Final series. After the grand final, and 59 games in two seasons with the Bullets, the 38-year-old Bradtke retired from playing professional basketball having played in four NBL Grand Finals (winning three)

Bradtke retired as the NBL's all-time leading rebounder pulling down 6,283 rebounds (4,279 def, 2,004 off) at 11.3 per game. This record still stands as of the 2016–17 NBL season. On 21 November 2003, Bradtke broke the previous NBL rebounds record of 5,200 held by his former Adelaide 36ers teammate Mark Davis at the Distinctive Homes Dome in Adelaide (now known as the Titanium Security Arena). Davis, who still makes Adelaide his home, was on hand to present Bradtke with the game ball in recognition of his achievement. Bradtke led the NBL in rebounding in 1992 (14.8), 1994 (14.5), 1998–99 (13.3), 1999–00 (14.8), 2000–01 (14.1), 2001–02 (13.1), 2002–03 (12.9) and 2003–04 (10.9).

Bradtke is also third on the all-time list of NBL blocked shots with 763 at 1.3 per game