Mark Leader joined the Devonport Warriors NBL team in 1983 after graduating from Western Oregon University.
He spent two seasons with the club, acting as a player-coach and despite juggling the two roles he averaged 22 points, 11 rebounds and 3 assists in his debut season and 29 points, 14 rebounds and 6 assists in 1984.
He spent two seasons with the Geelong Cats after Devonport exited the league before becoming a naturalised Australian in 1987.
After being pursued by multiple NBL teams (he very nearly signed with the Sydney Kings) he moved to Melbourne in 1988 and joined forces with the “Twin Boulders” Tim Dillon and Scott Fisher at the Giants.
A 6 month holiday in Australia had turned into a 12-year NBL playing career that included championships in 1989 and again in 1994 alongside star Darryl McDonald.
Leader played 327 games during his NBL career, averaging 12 points, 6 rebounds and 4 assists. He is also the only Giants player to be a part of the team’s two title runs and was the Giant’s team captain from 1993 to 1995.
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After his career Leader turned his hand to coaching, first with the Giants NBL program as an assistant under Brett Brown and then as head coach of the Ballarat Miners and Geelong Supercats in the state league where he won national championships at both clubs.
Mark joins Dan Boyce on the podcast to discuss Tasmanian Hoops in the 1980s, Geelong Supercats returning to the NBL and his championship seasons in 1989 and 1994.
Listen to Aussie Hoopla podcast on the links below.
Topics include;
- Life after basketball… how Mark has spent his time since retiring in 1995 (2:00)
- How Mark was recruited to Australia from Oregon, USA (4:30)
- The Devonport Warriors NBL team which existed from 1983-1984 (8:30)
- Thoughts on basketball returning to Tasmania with the JackJumpers in 2021 (9:30)
- NBL player-coaches in the 1980s (11:00)
- His decision to move to the mainland and play for the Geelong Cats (12:00)
- Is it likely we see Geelong ever return to the National League (18:00)
- Becoming a naturalised Australian and joining the North Melbourne Giants in 1988 (19:00)
- Memories of playing alongside the “Twin Boulders” Scott Fisher and Tim Dillon (22:30)
- Bouncing back from the Grand Final loss in 1988 (25:00)
- Winning it all with the Giants in 1989 (27:00)
- Darryl McDonald joins the team in 1994 and the Giants win their second NBL championship (32:00)
- Learning from Brett Brown (39:00)
- Deciding to retire in 1995 (42:00)
- The best players Mark faced during his career (43:00)
- The highlights and challenges from his basketball journey (45:00)
All of this and a whole lot more…
Dan Boyce is a die-hard Sydney Kings fan who grew up in Melbourne during the roaring 90's of Australian Basketball and spent far too much time collecting Futera NBL Basketball cards.
One Response to the post:
Hi Dan,
Just listened to your podcast with Mark Leader, excellent content and recall from Mark on his outstanding career in the NBL and time in basketball in Australia.
I was lucky enough to be involved with the Giants over their time as Coburg and North Melbourne and Mark is a quality person who happens to be a very good basketball player and coach.
Not sure when this was published, have listened to some others and have enjoyed.
Thanks again and keep shooting.