Damian Martin

Damian Patrick Martin (born 5 September 1984) is an Australian professional basketball player for the Perth Wildcats of the National Basketball League (NBL). He played college basketball for Loyola Marymount University and is a regular member of the Australian national team. The five-time NBL Best Defensive Player is poised to be ranked amongst the best NBL defenders of all-time.^[1]

Junior career

Martin was a prolific player on the Australian national junior team and an Australian Institute of Sport scholarship holder in 2002. He was captain of the Australian team that won the gold medal at the 2003 FIBA Under-19 World Championship, the first in the country's history.

Martin played NCAA Division I basketball for Loyola Marymount University where he was a key contributor for the Lions. After a successful freshman and sophomore season, he was forced to redshirt the 2005–06 due to a ruptured Achilles tendon he suffered while playing with the national team. He returned to the Lions in 2006–07 but left the program in 2007 to return to Australia. In his three seasons for LMU, he played 88 games (69 starts) and averaged 4.6 points, 3.9 rebounds, 3.2 assists and 1.8 steals per game,^[2] and was a West Coast Conference All-Freshmen team honouree in 2003–04.^[3]

Professional career

Early years

Following his college career, Martin signed with the West Sydney Razorbacks of the National Basketball League. He played the first 10 games of the 2007–08 season before a knee injury suffered in November 2007 ended his rookie season. He returned to the club for the 2008–09 season, now known as the Sydney Spirit,^[4] and led the league in steals with 1.9 per game. He went on to play for the Australian senior national team (Boomers) for the first time at the 2009 FIBA Oceania Championship.

Perth Wildcats

Following the demise of the Sydney Spirit, Martin followed long-time mentor and Spirit head coach Rob Beveridge over to Perth where the pair joined the Wildcats for the 2009–10 NBL season.^[5] Playing alongside Shawn Redhage, Brad Robbins and Kevin Lisch, Martin helped the Wildcats win their record-breaking fifth NBL championship in 2009–10. He was again named in the Boomers' squad for the 2010 FIBA World Championship and the 2011 FIBA Oceania Championship.

2012–13 season

During the 2012–13 season, with the retirement of Brad Robbins mid-season, Martin was named co-captain alongside Shawn Redhage. On 24 March 2013, Martin made history by being named the NBL's Best Defensive Player of the Year for the third straight season. He became just the third player in NBL history to win the award in three consecutive seasons, and the first since 2001.^[6] On 1 April 2013, he was ruled out of the 2013 NBL grand final series against the New Zealand Breakers with a partial tear of his Achilles tendon.^[7] He suffered the injury in the Wildcats' 85–81 win over the Wollongong Hawks in Game 2 of their semi-final series, which booked the club a spot in the grand final for the third time in four seasons.^[8]

2013–14 season

On 9 October 2013, Martin was named the sole captain of the Perth Wildcats for the 2013–14 season.^[9] On 2 April 2014, he was named the NBL's Best Defensive Player of the Year for the fourth straight season, becoming the first player in NBL history to win the award four seasons in a row.^[10][11] He went on to lead the Wildcats to their sixth NBL championship, defeating the Adelaide 36ers 2–1 in the 2014 NBL grand final series.

2014–15 season

On 14 May 2014, Martin re-signed with the Wildcats on a two-year deal (with the option of a third).^[12] On 24 October 2014, he recorded nine steals in the Wildcats' 84–63 win over the Sydney Kings, the second most by a Perth Wildcat in the club's history; Ricky Grace recorded 10 in 1990.^[13] He was subsequently named round three's player of the week for his efforts.^[14] On 31 December 2014, Martin played his 200th NBL game in an 86–77 win over the Wollongong Hawks. In just under 34 minutes of action, he recorded a then season-high 17 points, along with 4 assists, 2 rebounds and 2 steals.^[15][16] He went on to record a season-high 19 points, along with 8 rebounds, 6 steals and 3 assists, in a loss to the New Zealand Breakers on 29 January 2015.^[17] After bowing out of the semi-finals to the Cairns Taipans in straight sets, Martin was named the NBL's Best Defensive Player for the fifth year in a row, further building his reputation as one of the NBL's all-time best defenders.^[1]

2015–16 season

On 5 November 2015, Martin was ruled out for three months after suffering a broken jaw and missing teeth after an elbow from Townsville Crocodiles forward Brian Conklin the previous night. The Wildcats were defeated by the Crocodiles 89–77, with the game overshadowed by the brutal incident, which happened with just a minute remaining in the game and led to a war of words between the teams.^[18] Despite been ruled out for three months, Martin's surgery and recovery went better than expected, and he was deemed fit to play in the team's November 27 match against the New Zealand Breakers.^[19] On 17 February 2016, Martin's run of successive Best Defensive Player awards was broken by former teammate Kevin Lisch, who was named the recipient of the award for the 2015–16 season.^[20] Two days later, he played his 200th game for the Wildcats in the team's first semi-final game against the Illawarra Hawks. In 29 minutes of action, Martin turned the screws defensively, finishing with four steals and countless quality defensive efforts, but also knocked down a season-high three triples to spark the offense. He also recorded nine points, six rebounds and three assists to help the Wildcats win 80–68.^[21] Martin went on to lead the Wildcats to a 2–1 series win over the Hawks, booking the club a spot in the Grand Final for the fifth time in seven seasons. Martin was inspirational during the grand final series, helping the Wildcats defeat long-time arch rivals the New Zealand Breakers 2–1 for their first ever playoff series win over the Breakers, making up for their grand final defeats in 2012 and 2013 at the hands of the Breakers. With the series victory, the Wildcats claimed their seventh NBL championship, as Martin subsequently earned Grand Final MVP honours.^[22][23][24]

2016–17 season

On 2 June 2016, Martin signed a new three-year deal with the Wildcats.^[25] Two months later, Martin made his Olympic debut for the Australian Boomers at the 2016 Rio Olympics.^[26]

On 23 October 2016, Martin recorded a career-high 13 rebounds in a 72–69 win over Melbourne United.^[27][28] During the game, he received a heavy knock to the head, with x-rays revealing a fracture to the left side of his jaw. Consequently, he was ruled out for two weeks of action.^[29] He returned after missing just one game, but sustained another injury, this time a grade three MCL tear in his left knee against the Adelaide 36ers on 5 November. He was subsequently ruled out for 10 to 12 weeks.^[30]

Personal

Martin is the son of Anne and Raymond Martin, and has three brothers, Daniel, John and Anthony, and one sister, Beth.^[3] On 17 June 2014, Martin got engaged to long-time girlfriend, Brittany Morgan.^[31] The couple later married on 3 April 2015 in Sydney.^[32] His wife's cousin is rugby league player Michael Morgan.^[33]

References

External links

• Damian Martin at wildcats.com.au
• Damian Martin at foxsportspulse.com
• R13 Preview: Martin's 200th falls into place nicely
• Damian Martin – 200 Perth Wildcats Games
• Damian Martin: Red Army Hero
• Damian Martin: Most Inspiring Man
• Australia's Most Humble Rio Olympian Just Had Two Amazing Wins