Bullets legacy continues with trio of sons of greats

Mark Bradtke, Nigel Purchase and Mark Dalton all are part of the rich legacy at the Brisbane Bullets and now for NBL26 their sons Jensen Bradtke, Jack Purchase and Cal Dalton are all going to be teammates.

Throw in Sam McDaniel whose father Wayne was an NBL import at the Adelaide 36ers, Hobart Devils, Newcastle Falcons and Geelong Supercats, and it's a special component of this Bullets team for NBL26 that there are so many sons carrying on their fathers legacies.

Purchase is making his return to the NBL with the Bullets for the first time since NBL22 at the Perth Wildcats. He will be carrying on in the No. 12 jersey at Brisbane which father Nigel wore in the last season of his 250-game career in 1993.

Dalton has also been named as the Nominated Replacement Player for the Bullets in NBL26 having finished last season in the line-up taking the place of Tyrell Harrison as he carries on his family name in Brisbane where his dad Mark played in 1996 and 1997 as part of his 421-game career.

Then there is Bradtke who has signed as a development player in NBL26 with his father one of Australia's all-time greatest players with Mark part of the 2007 Bullets championship as one of three NBL titles in his 554-game career that included representing Australia at four Olympic Games.

CAL DALTON

Cal Dalton's first chance in the NBL did come at the Bullets back in the 2020/21 season before spending two years with Melbourne United, and then an injury replacement opportunity opened up in the back end of NBL25.

He is now officially the Nominated Replacement Player for NBL26 and is proud that the Bullets team for this season has such a strong father-son contingent.

"It is something we've actually talked about at training when it clicked that about a quarter of our team is a father-son in one way or another," Dalton said.

"I don't know how common that is to have that in basketball at least. Some of our dads have played against each other or with each other so it is a pretty cool dynamic and hopefully we can all get on the court together at some point this season too. It's a special little thing that a lot of us are sharing for this season."

Dalton's father, Mark, spent the 1996 and 1997 seasons with the Bullets as part of a 421-game career in the NBL that included him winning a championship at the Canberra Cannons and spending eight seasons at the Sydney Kings which ended up seeing him named to the 25th Anniversary Team.

Cal might have been too young to see him play with Mark retiring in 1999 when he was yet to be born, but his father is the reason he got into basketball at all from a very young age.

"He's the reason I started playing and he was the GM at Logan Basketball from 2001 so I was one at the time he started in that role," Dalton said.

"So my first memories aren’t necessarily playing basketball, it's just sort of roaming around the stadium and watching all the club games and rep games, and the ABA or QBL whichever it was back then.

"I'd just run out and shoot at half-time and all that sort of stuff you do as a kid, and he got me into all of that by being around it all the time.

"I never got to watch him play live but naturally you want to be like your dad when you're a little kid and everyone told me how much they loved watching him play. It still happens all the time wherever I go and they have some random story from 30, 40 years ago. It's nuts but super cool at the same time."

Dalton won't get to wear the No. 12 jersey that his dad did wear with the Bullets, but initially it was because of Will Magnay and now it's Jack Purchase, so they are tough men to argue with.

"When I first started at the Bullets, Magnay was 12 so I couldn’t have it then and that's why I got No. 9 because that was the original number I had," he added.

"Then Jack's dad was 12 too so if I'm going to surrender it to someone, it's fine with me if it's Jack given that history he has with it."

JACK PURCHASE

Jack Purchase has now banged down the door for another NBL opportunity with a brilliant NBL1 season with the Melbourne Tigers, with his dad Nigel playing all but 14 of his NBL games with that club when they were still part of the NBL.

Nigel finished his NBL career at the Bullets in the 1993 season and now that's where Jack will be resuming his time in the league after previous stints at Melbourne United, Adelaide 36ers and Perth Wildcats.

To play in the NBL at the only club still up and about that his dad pulled on a jersey for is something that means a lot to Jack.

"It's unreal and when I came up here to do my little tryout I saw that they have his name up on the wall and it was pretty cool seeing that," Purchase said.

"I then got the spot and I asked if they No. 12 and they did, so that got put on my locker. Then what they do is they put all the past players that have worn that number on your locker so I've got my old man's name on mine which is pretty cool.

"Just being able to do that and sort of follow in his footsteps here at Brisbane is something that's definitely special to me and my family."

Purchase is fresh off a standout NBL1 South season at the Tigers where he was instrumental in leading them to the Grand Final and even for a brief period set a new NBL1 scoring record across the country when he put up 55 points.

He did all that in the No. 12 jersey with the Tigers and now will be wearing that same number at the Bullets just as Nigel wore back in 1993.

"Ever since I was younger I've always tried to wear the No. 12. I wore No. 6 growing up at the Tigers, but then when I went off to college I got the 12 and ever since then it's stuck with me," Purchase said.

"I love it and dad loves it, he gets a kick out of it and mum even reckons she wore 12 back in the day too so it's kind of our family number."

JENSEN BRADTKE

Jensen Bradtke now continues on his famous family name not only with his dad Mark an Australian basketball legend but his mother Nicole had her own terrific sporting career as a tennis player.

Jensen joins the Bullets as a development player for NBL26 on the back of spending a season in college at the University of Montana after a year with the Centre of Excellence.

He is fresh off a terrific season in the NBL1 North with the Gold Coast Rollers under coach Anthony Petrie where he was instrumental in them finishing the regular season in top spot.

His dad, Mark, just happened to be coaching the women's Gold Coast team at the same time and for Jensen, it was a terrific way to reconnect with his old man.

"It was a bit weird going to training and he's there coaching the girls team before me and all that kind of stuff," Bradtke said.

"Even on game days, we would drive there together if we were going to the Sunny Coast or anywhere so it was a bit weird to start off with because I haven’t been at home for so long.

"Then all of a sudden I was back living with them all again and dad's at the same club as me and everything like that, but it was pretty cool."

Jensen is now preparing to wear that same No. 50 jersey with the Bullets that Mark won an NBL championship in back in 2007 as part of his remarkable 554-game career that included time with the Adelaide 36ers, Melbourne Tigers and finally in Brisbane.

"It means a lot to me and I'm sure it means a lot to him too to see me playing at a team he played with, and he's also the only other person that's wore No. 50 so that's just something we've kept in the family," Bradtke said.

"It doesn’t feel real still at the same time because growing up I've seen so much Bullets stuff around from when dad was playing so it feels a bit weird still it's actually really happening.

"He can obviously reminisce on his past and everything, but it's definitely something that I'm sure once I'm finished playing basketball or even the end of the season, I'll look back on how cool it was that I was able to play in the same number with the same name on my back at the same team he won a championship with.

"It's definitely a moment that everyone in our family is cherishing at the moment and it's almost like a dream come true."

Not only did Bradtke cement himself as one of the greatest NBL players of all-time in the 554 games he played across three clubs for three championships, he went to four Olympic Games with the Boomers and is one of Australia's best ever big men.

While his son stands at a similar height or he even lays claim to being slightly taller, he's not quite the powerful inside beast Mark was. Jensen is still proud of his father's legacy and history even if he isn’t necessarily modelling his own game on his.

"I'm obviously very aware of what he did in his career and he definitely tells me how good he was, and he'll show me some random highlighting of him dunking on some dude or whatever it is from time to time," Bradtke said.

"I've watched a few things here and there, but I haven’t actually delved in too deep into the archives, but I know he has a heap of old VHS tapes sitting in the basement of his games from the Tigers, Bullets and 36ers.

"It's pretty cool having that stuff there even though you don't watch it all the time and I know he loves it because it brings him back to those times he was playing.

"I'm sure he wishes he could still be running around like he did back then, but I am fully aware of how good he was even though I'm a bit of a different player to what he was so I'm not really trying to become the player he was."