BIO: A New York City native, Simmons attended South Bronx High School in The Bronx before playing college basketball in the state of Oklahoma.

FAMILY: Dave’s son Ben Simmons also played 0 games in the NBL.

NBL EXPERIENCE

Dave Simmons made his NBL debut with the Melbourne Tigers at 26 years of age. He scored 28 points in his first game.

In 1989, Melbourne moved on from imports James Bullock and Alvis Rogers and signed talented forwards Dave Simmons and David Colbert. The Tigers also added local players Ray Gordon (via North Melbourne), Warrick Giddey (via Illawarra) and rookie Stephen Whitehead, who would become the Tigers’ core group for the next five years. Naturalised players Eric Bailey and Brad Pineau were also signed, giving the Tigers their deepest roster since entering the league in 1984.

Andrew Gaze (34.5 points, 5.3 rebounds, and 7.2 assists) led the league in both scoring and assists, but it was the addition of new faces Simmons (26.3 points, 9.9 rebounds, and 2.4 assists, 1.5 steals, and 1.4 blocks), Colbert (25.8 points, 11.8 rebounds, 3.8 assists, 1.7 steals, and 1.5 blocks) and Gordon (11.7 points, 2.7 rebounds, 3.4 assists, and 1.1 steals) that made the difference. Behind the Tigers’ revamped roster, they were able to jump from twelfth position (8-16) the season to prior to finish fourth (17-10) and reached the playoffs for the first time in the team’s history.

Simmons delivered a number of big games during the season, scoring 30+ points in seven different games, including a 40-point performance against the Brisbane Bullets (Aug 20).

Melbourne’s inexperience became evident in the postseason, however, being eliminated in the first round by the Sydney Kings.

1990
Off the back of the Tiger’s revamped roster, which led to their first playoff appearance ever, Melbourne re-signed its core group and looked to become a even stronger team in 1990. Although they lost naturalised swingman Eric Bailey (to Gold Coast), they were able to replace him with a even better option in Cecil Exum (via North Melbourne), who had been a big part of the Giant’s championship in 1989 and imports Dave Colbert and Dave Simmons were re-signed.

Andrew Gaze, who had spent the off-seasonplaying with Seton Hall University and narrowly missing out on a contract with the Seattle Supersonics, looked to light up the league.

Gaze (37.6 points, 4.8 rebounds, 6.9 assists, and 2.6 steals), Colbert (31.1 points, 10.7 rebounds, 2.9 assists, 1.3 steals, and 1.6 blocks) and Simmons (27.4 points, 8.7 rebounds, and 3.2 assists, 1.7 steals, and 1.3) filled every column in the stats sheet every night, as well as combing for 96 points per game.

Melbourne hit a major speed bump when Gaze was diagnosed as having a blood clot in his right shoulder, a issue that almost ended his playing career. As a result, Gaze would miss the Tigers’ last two games of the regular season and all playoff games, but Melbourne still managed to finish in fourth place (17-9). They faced off against fifth-seed Perth in the elimination finals, where Colbert (52 points, 9 rebounds and 4 steals) erupted for a career-high in Gaze’s absence, but it wasn’t enough to get past the well-balanced attack of Perth. Ricky Grace (30 points, 8 rebounds, and 7 assists) made 10 of his 13 shots and seemed to set up teammate David Close (25 points and 6 rebounds) for a open look whenever he didn’t score, allowing Perth to walk away victors (122-100).

In game two, Colbert (42 points, 9 rebounds, and 2 blocks) was unstoppable again, and teammate Dave Simmons (29 points, 9 rebounds, and 6 assists) also delivered a big game also but Perth managed to shut down every other Tigers’ player and ended Melbourne’s season behind a ten point win (123-113).

1991
Melbourne had become a formidable team by 1991, and had it not been for a blood clot that derailed Andrew Gaze’s season, could have seen a deep playoff run from the Tigers. This year would see the trio of Gaze (38.8 points, 4.4 rebounds, 6.0 assists, and 2.7 steals), David Cobert (24.6 points, 9.8 rebounds, 3.1 assists, 1.7 steals, and 1.5 blocks) and Dave Simmons (24.1 points, 8.4 rebounds, 2.4 assists, 1.7 steals, and 1.1 blocks) get the chance to see how far they could go with a full season together. Melbourne was also boosted by the emergence of Stephen Whitehead (9.9 points, 3.6 rebounds, 2.0 assists, and 1.4 steals), who would double his production with a shift to the team’s starting lineup.

The Tigers made history this season when they faced off against Illawarra and recorded the highest scoring game in NBL history (Jul 27). The game saw 344 points scored, and the Tigers come out as victors (186-158). Gaze (59 points, 11 assists, and 4 steals), Colbert (42 points, 20 rebounds and 5 assists) and Simmons (36 points, 7 rebounds, 3 assists, 3 steals, and 2 blocks) doing the bulk of the scoring for Melbourne and Patric Fairs (41 points and 10 rebounds) and Greg Hubbard (36 points, 4 rebounds and 6 assists) top scoring for Illawarra, who shot 76% from the field, which remains the highest shooting percentage ever recorded by a team in a losing effort.

Once into the playoffs, Melbourne would lose game one (115-129) and game two (96-132) to Adelaide in the elimination finals. The scoring brilliance of Gaze, combined with the Tigers’ regular season success, was enough to earn him the NBL Most Valuable Player award for the first time. Gaze would then take home the NBL MVP award in seven of his next eight seasons.

1992
1992 began with the Tigers replacing forward David Colbert with former NBA guard Lanard Copeland, who paired with Andrew Gaze in the backcourt to become one of the most exciting backcourt duos in NBL history. Gaze (33.8 points, 4.6 rebounds and 6.3 assists) would again lead the league in scoring, with Copeland (28.1 points, 4.5 rebounds, and 3.0 assists) NBA pedigree showing he was one of the best imports in the league.

Melbourne replaced the interior presence of Colbert with Robert Sibley (via Brisbane), which then resulted in Brisbane signing free agent Colbert in a talent swap for both team’s.

Sibley (11.1 points, 7.8 rebounds, and 2.7 assists) fitted into the frontcourt nicely, and talented young swingman Stephen Whitehead (13.8 points, 4.5 rebounds, 2.0 assists, 1.2 steals, and 1.1 blocks) saw a boost in his numbers for the third straight season.

With the revamped roster, the Tigers became a much faster lineup, finishing the regular season in the third spot, their highest place finish ever (15-9).

Once into the postseason Melbourne would eliminate Perth (2-1) in the quarterfinals, and then the Sydney Kings (2-1) in the semifinals to reach the Grand Final series for the first time in franchise history. Facing off against crosstown rivals the South East Melbourne Magic, Gaze (26 points, 5 rebounds, and 3 assists) and the Tigers came out firing and comfortably defeated the Magic (116-98) in the first game of the series. That would be the last of the heroics, however, as the Magic would win the series’ next two games and claim the 1992 NBL championship (2-1).

Simmons appeared in all 33 games for the Tigers, averaging 17.2 points, 9.0 rebounds, 2.3 assists, 1.6 steals, and 1.1 blocks for the season.

1993 – THE TIGERS FIRST CHAMPIONSHIP
The Tigers’ season began with the huge signing of Mark Bradtke during the pre-season. His arrival made national news, with Bradtke having spent the off-seasonplaying in Spain and giving former team Adelaide a verbal agreement he would play for them if he returned in 1993. However, upon his return to Australia, Bradtke made it known he did not want to play the final year of his contract in Adelaide, amongst rumours the Melbourne Tigers were actively recruiting him. After negotiations between the two parties broke down, the 36ers gave permission for Bradtke to leave if a team would buy out his remaining contract. However, the NBL stepped in and vetoed the buyout, effectively letting Bradtke leave for Melbourne without the 36ers receiving any compensation. After the fact it became clear Bradtke had decided to move to Melbourne to be closer to then girlfriend (and future wife), pro-tennis player Nicole Provis.

Although the Tigers were coming off a grand final appearance, they began the season poorly and no one was pencilling them in for the championship at midseason. After shaking off their slow start (2-7) but finishing the remainder of the season strong (14-3), the Tigers finished the year in third place. Bradtke (17 points, 12.2 rebounds, and 2.1 assists) became the missing puzzle piece to Melbourne’s historically weak frontline as Andrew Gaze (32.0 points, 5.4 rebounds, 6.1 assists and 2.7 steals), Lanard Copeland (22.2 points, 3.1 rebounds, 2.8 assists and 1.9 steals) led the team in scoring.

During the quarterfinals, the Tigers would easily eliminate Illawarra (2-0), setting up a rematch of last year’s grand final, a semi finals showdown against South East Melbourne. Copeland (32 points, 4 rebounds, 4 assists, and 2 steals), Gaze (23 points 3 rebounds, and 8 assists) and Bradtke (21 points, 15 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals, and 2 blocks) combined for 76 points and in nail-biting two point win to open the series (108-106). In game two, Bradtke (28 points, 15 rebounds, and 2 steals) was the difference maker, proven unstoppable for the Magic as the Tigers closed out the series behind a 17 point win (89-72).

On the opposite side of the bracket, the Perth Wildcats (21-5) had finished on top of the ladder and made their way through to the Grand Final.

The series began with the Tigers playing at home and, by the second quarter, were controlling things with a 19 point lead. From there, Melbourne saw four key players fall into foul trouble, which included Robert Sibley (13 points and 4 rebounds) and Bradtke (4 points, 11 rebounds) fouling out. Bradtke struggled against Perth’s interior defenders and finished the game shooting one from nine from the field. Ricky Grace (23 points, 3 rebounds, 8 assists and 2 steals) then fueled a late-game surge from Perth which closed the game by four points. In the closing minutes, Perth attempted to close the gap by repeatedly sending Melbourne to the line but with Gaze (41 points, 6 rebounds, and 9 assists) nailing ten from ten free throws in the final quarter, Melbourne see out the game as victors (117-113).

In a similar fashion to game one, Melbourne took out a early lead in game two (32-22), thanks to the dominance of Bradtke (24 points, 13 rebounds, and 4 assists). By halftime, however, the ‘Perth Wall’ of James Crawford (32 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists, and 3 blocks), Andrew Vlahov (23 points, 7 rebounds, and 2 blocks), and Scott Fisher (16 points and 6 rebounds) had reined Bradtke things in and returned fire to lead by six at halftime (60-54).

Perth remained in control of the foul-prone Tigers, who struggled to score after losing both Gaze (22 points, 3 rebounds, and 6 assists) and Dave Simmons (12 points, 11 rebounds, and 4 assists) to six fouls. Grace (23 points, 8 rebounds, and 13 assists) came close to recording a triple-double, many of those assists coming from feeding Crawford inside, who made 11 of his 15 shots.

A full house at the Perth Entertainment Centre (8,000 fans) witnessed the Wildcats’ victory (112-105), one that extended their consecutive home winning streak to 17. With game three to be played in Perth and the Tigers have never won on the Wildcats’ home floor, Perth entered the game as clear favourites.

The underdog Tigers, however, survived a strong Perth comeback that cut a 15-point lead to three before Gaze (22 points, 3 rebounds, and 5 assists) sunk a free throw to give Melbourne a two-point edge with four seconds left on the clock. A last-second shot from Vlahov (31 points, 15 rebounds, 4 assists, and 2 steals) which rattled in and out of the ring, saw the Tigers become NBL champions for the very first time (104-102). Copeland (35 points, 8 rebounds, and 2 assists) led the team in scoring, while Bradtke (23 points, 19 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals, and 2 blocks) dominated Perth inside after struggling with fouls in the first two games. In a surprising decision, however, Wildcats’ guard Ricky Grace was awarded the Grand Final MVP despite playing for the losing team.

Simmons (11.9 points, 7.9 rebounds, 3.8 assists, 1.3 steals, and 1.4 blocks) saw his minutes and role in the offence reduce with the arrival of Bradtke. Although Simmons played in all 33 games this season, and averaged career highs in blocks and assists, showcasing his increased role as a defender and facilitator, he averaged career lows in all other statistics.

1994
Coming off a title in 1993, the Tigers were able to return with almost the entire roster, losing only backup big man Robert Sibley (to Brisbane), who they would replace with a young Chris Anstey. The defending champions would go on to record their best regular season result in the club’s history (19-7), finishing in second place. Andrew Gaze (33.4 points, 4.8 rebounds, 7.2 assists, and 2.4 steals) was awarded the league’s Most Valuable Player award and led the league in scoring, while Mark Bradtke (20.2 points, 14.5 rebounds, 2.5 assists, 1.2 steals, and 1.3 blocks) led the league in rebounding and both were also selected to the All-NBL First Team. Once into the postseason, Melbourne would defeat Illawarra convincingly in both game one (107-85) and game two (119-83) before facing a incredibly talented (and deep) Adelaide team in the semifinals, which featured Rob Rose, Mark Davis, Willie Simmons, Phil Smyth, Brett Maher and Chris Blakemore. The 36ers defeated the Tigers first in Adelaide (101-88) and then repeated the result on Melbourne’s home floor (110-101) to end the Tiger’s season and move on to the Grand Final to face North Melbourne.

Simmons would play in all 30 of the Tigers games that season, averaging 15.8 points, 8.7 rebounds, 3.6 assists, 1.3 steals, and 1.0 blocks.

1995
In 1995, Mark Bradtke requested some time off to allow him to support his wife Nicole’s tennis career as she travelled abroad and miss the first two-thirds of the season. Around that same time, Chris Anstey, a part of the Tigers junior program, also informed the club that he would return, having signed a deal to play with rival club South East Melbourne. Melbourne coach Lindsey Gaze appealed via the NBL tribunal, which ruled that Anstey could not leave the Tigers as long as they could match the contract, which they did.

After some extremely creative salary tweaking, the Magic then signed Anstey to a one year deal worth $180,000 which the Tigers had no interest in matching, allowing Anstey to shift clubs. Once Anstey had signed with the Magic, he renegotiated his contract to a 3-year, $181,000 contract, remaining higher than the Tigers contract not to break any NBL salary cap rules of the time.

The Tigers added forward Matt Reece (via Gold Coast) and centre Blair Smith (via Brisbane) to cover the loss of Bradtke and Anstey.

Andrew Gaze (33.9 points, 4.2 rebounds, 8.0 assists, and 2.3 steals), Lanard Copeland (25.5 points, 4.6 rebounds, 3.2 assists, and 1.7 steals) and Dave Simmons (14.7 points, 9.1 rebounds, 2.7 assists, 1.5 steals, and 1.0 blocks) led the team offensively, during a season which saw a merry-go-round of league leaders, during the regular season, Brisbane, Sydney, North Melbourne, South East Melbourne and Melbourne all sat in the number one spot on the ladder some point. With Melbourne narrowly sitting among the top eight team’s (10-7), Bradtke (11.2 points, 7.9 rebounds, 1.7 assists, and 1.2 blocks) would return to playout the Tigers’ last nine games for the season.

The Tigers would scrape into the playoffs, claiming the eighth seed (14-12), their worst result since 1988. With Bradtke out of form and the team still adjusting to him being back in the lineup, Melbourne was eliminated by the Perth Wildcats in the first round (1-2).

1996
With the Tigers having Mark Bradtke back full-time and able to retain all of their core group except for Stephen Whitehead (to Sydney), Melbourne were able to return to their winning ways after their posting their worst season in eight years. Gaze (31.1 points, 5.3 rebounds, 8.1 assists, and 1.7 steals) delivered another MVP season, winning the award for the sixth time, alongside Copeland (21.4 points, 4.5 rebounds, 2.5 assists, and 1.4 steals) and a rejuvenated Bradtke (22.6 points, 11.5 rebounds, 2.5 assists, and 1.6 blocks) as they churned through the competition like a well-oiled machine. Melbourne would finish in first place (21-5), recording their best regular season record in franchise history.

Melbourne would ride the coattails of their ‘Big Three’ through the playoffs, first facing off against the eight seed Brisbane (14-12). Despite losing game one by 21 points (97-118), the Tigers would return to Melbourne and win game two (96-87) thanks to big games from Gaze (30 points, 4 rebounds and 7 assists) and Bradtke (24 points, 9 rebounds, and 4 assists) and game three (111-93) with Gaze (29 points, 3 rebounds and 6 assists) and Bradtke (29 points, 13 rebounds, and 4 blocks) again leading the team in scoring.

The Tigers would then meet the Cannons in the semifinals and despite Simmons (19 points, 6 rebounds and 4 assists, and 2 steals) delivering a stand out performance in game one, Canberra’s Robert Rose (22 points, 6 rebounds and 6 assists), Darnell Mee (21 points, 3 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals, and 2 blocks), and Simon Dwight (20 points, 11 rebounds, and 5 blocks) proved too strong and came away with the win (98-87). Melbourne rebounded with Gaze (30 points, 8 rebounds, 9 assists, 4 steals), narrowly missing out on a triple-double in their game two win (100-82), and then in game three (91-87), Gaze (29 points, 7 rebounds, 5 assists and 3 blocks) and Bradtke (26 points, 12 rebounds, and 4 blocks) combined to score half of the Tigers points, eliminating the Cannons in a tightly fought four-point win. Simmons also contributed 14 points, 14 rebounds and 2 assists.

Moving on to the grand final series, Melbourne would face South East Melbourne (19-7) who finished in second place during the regular season. Melbourne was too good in game one (100-89), with Gaze (35 points, 8 rebounds, and 7 assists) delivering his best game of the series in front of a packed Melbourne crowd. Mark Bradtke (24 points and 15 rebounds) and Lanard Copeland (23 points, 4 rebounds and 3 assists) were also brilliant, scoring whenever Gaze didn’t, and the Tigers ‘Big Three’ combining for 82 points. Simmons would add 8 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists.

The Magic would then bounce back and win game two (88-84) in front of a Grand Final record crowd of 15,064 at the National Tennis Centre at Flinders Park, which still stands as Melbourne’s highest-attended NBL game ever. Gaze (21 points, 5 rebounds, and 9 assists) led the Tigers in scoring in the loss, while the Magic were led by Tony Ronaldson (28 points) and Mike Kelly (19 points, 9 rebounds, 4 assists and 2 steals).

The third and deciding game was held less than 48 hours later, a scenario that benefited the younger legs of the Magic and allowed them to deliver the final blow (107-70). Billy McCaffrey (24 points and 5 assists) and the incredibly efficient performances from Sam MacKinnon (18 points and 9 rebounds), who shot 9/10 from the field, and John Dorge (16 points and 8 rebounds) who made 8 of his 11 shots saw South East Melbourne’s field goal percentage be the game’s deciding factor. The Tigers made only 23 of 60 shots (38%) compared to the Magic, hitting 46 of their 85 shots (54%) in the 30-point blowout.

The 1996 NBL Grand Final series drew a aggregate attendance record of 43,605 (average 14,535), the largest crowd ever for a three-game NBL series. Magic guard Mike Kelly was awarded the Finals MVP award after averaging 16 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists and 2.3 steals across the three-game series.

This season Simmons played in all 35 of the Tigers games but averaged a career low 9.5 points, 5.9 rebounds, and 2.4 assists.

Simmons played eight seasons in Melbourne but at the conclusion of the 1996 season, the Tigers parted ways with Simmons, looking for a import capable of supporting Bradtke in the rebounds, and be more effective at the offensive end. Simmons subsequently joined the Newcastle Falcons in 1997.

NEWCASTLE FALCONS
1997
Simmons played just one season with the club averaging 12.2 points and 7.4 rebounds as the Falcons finished in tenth place with a 12-18 record.

SYDNEY KINGS
1998
He joined the Sydney Kings a month into the 1998 season, but his stint did not last long, as he left the club after appearing in just six games where he averaged 6.5 points and 6.3 rebounds

NEWCASTLE FALCONS
1998/99
Entering the 1998/99 season, the Falcons were in dire financial trouble, but on the brink of the season starting, they secured funds from a group of investors from Albury. As a result, the Falcons were able to retain local talent Ben Melmeth, Terry Johnson and import Todd Mundt but were forced to build the rest of the team on a shoestring budget. Somewhat luckily, Newcastle benefitted from the merger of South East Melbourne and North Melbourne, which saw Pat Reidy and import Butch Hays both former Giants players, without a team. With few NBL team’s having any space on their rosters at this stage, the Falcons were able to sign both at budget prices. Dean Brogan (via Adelaide), Rod Johnson (via Canberra) and legendary shot blocker Willie Simmons was lured out of retirement to play another season.

While obvious favourites to finish on the bottom of the ladder, the Falcons surprised everyone by winning five of their first six games.

Shortly after, reports of players not being paid their salaries surfaced, and the focus, motivation and production among the players began to wane. Mundt exited the team as a result of not getting paid on time and was replaced with Simmons (14.4 points, 7.1 rebounds, 1.9 assists, and 1.2 steals) who after a season playing with Sydney was sitting at home after being unable to find another new deal.

The remainder of the season then saw Newcastle record three wins from their next nineteen games before finally beating Perth (113–111) in their final game of the year.

Pat Reidy (17.8 points, 5.2 rebounds, 3.9 assists, and 1.1 steals) led the team in scoring, Ben Melmeth (17.5 points, 11.2 rebounds, 2.1 assists, 1.1 steals) led the team in rebounds while Terry Johnson (14.9 points, 4.3 rebounds, 3.7 assists, and 2.1 steals) delivered his best season at the point guard position and his brother Rod Johnson (11.4 points, 2.5 rebounds, and 3.2 assists) rounded out the team’s leading scorers.

After narrowly surviving the season before, this would prove to be the death knell for Newcastle, with the league stepping in to address their financial situation and its result being the removal of their NBL licence and the Falcons being forced out of the league.

CANBERRA CANNONS
1998/99
In September 1999, Simmons signed with the Canberra Cannons as a naturalized Australian to replace injured import Clayton Ritter. He averaged 4.9 points and 4.9 rebounds, and the Cannons finished their season in ninth place with a record of 11-17.

2000/01
In Simmons second seasons with the Cannons, his career finished on a sour note when he was released by the club with only six games remaining in the season with off court issues that were not disclosed to the public cited as the reason. He averaged 4.2 points and 3.8 rebounds before his release.

Dave Simmons played thirteen seasons across three NBL teams. This included the Melbourne Tigers, Newcastle Falcons, Sydney Kings and Canberra Cannons. He averaged 15 points, 7.6 rebounds, and 2.4 assists in 338 NBL games.

CAREER RANKINGS:
– 48th in total points
– 34th in total rebounds
– 41st in total steals
– 32nd in total blocks

HIGHLIGHTS:

Dan Boyce (811 Posts)

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.