Damian Martin

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

Martin at the Wildcats' 2014 championship ceremony

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

Martin, who became a four-time NBL champion in 2017, is a Perth Wildcats fan favourite.^[25]

On 2 June 2016, Martin signed a new three-year deal with the Wildcats.^[26] Two months later, Martin made his Olympic debut for the Australian Boomers at the 2016 Rio Olympics.^[27]

On 23 October 2016, Martin recorded a career-high 13 rebounds in a 72–69 win over Melbourne United.^[28][29] 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.^[30] 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.^[31] Much like in 2015–16, Martin managed to return from injury earlier than expected, as he joined the playing group for their first game of 2017 on 7 January in Sydney against the Kings. He helped the Wildcats win back-to-back road games for the first time in more than one year, as he picked up a team-high two steals in an 80–74 victory.^[32] On 28 January, in his 250th NBL game, Martin scored a season-high 11 points to go with six rebounds and four assists in a 73–71 win over Melbourne.^[33] The Wildcats finished the regular season in third place with a 15–13 record, and played the second-seeded Cairns Taipans in the semi-finals, a series the Wildcats swept 2–0. The series sweep advanced the Wildcats into the NBL Grand Final for the sixth time in eight years. In the best-of-five grand final series against the Illawarra Hawks, Martin was superb on defence in Game 1 (limiting the dynamic Rotnei Clarke to just eight shots),^[34] hit the scoreboard in Game 2 (scoring 12 points on four three-pointers),^[35] and did a bit of everything in Game 3 (three points, five rebounds, three assists, two steals) to lead the Wildcats to a 3–0 series sweep and an eighth NBL championship.^[36] Martin collected his fourth championship (third as captain) in a back-to-back effort, as the Wildcats defended their title for the first time since 1990/1991.^[37]

In February 2017, just weeks before the Wildcats were victorious over Illawarra in the grand final series, Martin stated that winning this season's championship would be the most-special title of his NBL career, mentioning that all of the adversity in 2016–17 had made this season even more special. The Wildcats slumped to last spot in December (7–9 record) as the team's injury toll started to have a significant impact. Long-term injuries to Martin, Jarrod Kenny and Matt Knight hurt the Wildcats in 2016–17, while early-season import shuffles disrupted the team's cohesiveness. The Wildcats only just scraped through to the finals after beating Melbourne United away in the final round. The victory extended Perth's playoff streak into a record 31st straight season. Martin said in February, "I've been fortunate to be a part of three Championships. If we win it this season, it would mean more to me than any of the other three because of all the adversity we've gone through. It's been such a special season."^[38]

2017–18 season

The Wildcats started the season 10–3, as they sat atop the ladder following Round 9. On 14 December 2017, Martin was ruled out for a number of games with an ankle injury.^[39][40] In the two games he missed, the Wildcats dropped to 10–5; he made his return for the Wildcats' New Year's Eve game against the Cairns Taipans in Cairns.^[41] On 4 February 2018, in a loss to the Adelaide 36ers in Adelaide,^[42] Martin played his 250th game for the Wildcats.^[43] The Wildcats finished the regular season in third place with a 16–12 record. On the eve of the Wildcats' finals campaign, Martin was named the NBL's Best Defensive Player for the 2017–18 season, earning the honour for a record-breaking sixth time.^[44] The Wildcats went on to lose in straight sets to the 36ers in the semi-finals.