Mark Dalton (421 NBL Games) on being ‘Blacklisted’ from the Boomers, Basketball politics and his NBL career

  • April 3, 2023
  • Dan Boyce
  • Podcasts
  • 0
  • 2079 Views

Very few have accomplished more than NBL legend Mark Dalton by age 20. In that time, he had played for the Australian Boomers at the 1984 Olympics and averaged 15 points and 10 rebounds as a starter in the Canberra Cannon’s second NBL championship.

Dalton played seventeen seasons across five NBL teams. This included the Canberra Cannons, Geelong Cats, Sydney Kings, Brisbane Bullets and Wollongong Hawks, and his all-time numbers sit amongst some of the best to have ever done it. Ranking in the top 40 for games played and rebounds as well as sitting in the top 25 for total steals and blocks.

Yet, he never played for the Boomers at the Olympics again. He says poor advice from AIS coaches stopped him from taking a scholarship from major US colleges, and his NBL journey saw him unceremoniously axed from multiple NBL teams.

 

Visit dunk.com.au for your next set of basketball uniforms.

 

Dalton joins host Dan Boyce on the show to discuss a myriad of topics, ranging from all of this plus NBL free agency, his son Callum, his NBL career and his recent fight against cancer.

Tune in to hear all of this and a lot more.

iTunes – Spotify – Stitcher – Libsyn – TuneIn

Podcast topics include;

  • Thoughts on NBL Free Agency and what advice he has for his son Callum, who currently plays for Melbourne United (2:00)
  • The early years of the Australian Institute of Sport (9:00)
  • How he was talked out of playing college basketball by AIS coaches (15:00)
  • Being unfairly ‘blacklisted’ by the Australian Boomers and left of numerous teams he felt he deserved to play for (16:30)
  • A cancer scare that has him urging every man over 50 years of age to get checked (25:00)
  • The 1984 Canberra Cannons championship (35:00)
  • Moving to Geelong to play for the Cats (45:00)
  • Being a part of the Sydney Kings during their first 8 years in the league (49:00)
  • The biggest learning moments he gained from his NBL career (101:00)
All of this and a whole lot more…

 

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