Brown III wins prestigious Damian Martin Trophy

From the moment he stopped on an NBL court, South East Melbourne Phoenix’s John Brown III has caused issues for teams defensively.

So it was no surprise that the American forward was named the Damian Martin Trophy for the Best Defensive Player at Monday’s night’s NBL awards evening at Crown Casino.

The 34-year-old, who led the NBL alongside Brisbane’s Casey Prather in steals per game (two), polled 75 votes, well ahead of the second and third place finishers Will Magnay (Tasmania) and Kristian Doolittle (Perth).

Prior to arriving in the NBL, Brown III has dominated defensively all around the world, seeing him take home the following awards; French League Best Defender (2024), EuroLeague steals leader (2022), VTB United League Defensive Player of the Year (2021), Lega Basket Serie A steals leader (2020), Big South Defensive Player of the Year (2016) and Big South Freshman of the Year (2013).

The NBL26 Finals tip off on Wednesday, March 4, with the Seeding Qualifier between South East Melbourne and Perth at John Cain Arena from 7.30pm AEDT, live on ESPN.