Cover image: Xavier Papadako
One could be forgiven for partaking in some 90s nostalgia when heading down to MSAC to watch the Melbourne Tigers’ NBL1 South men’s program, because it doesn’t take long to notice the jerseys ‘Gaze 10’, ‘Purchase 12’ and ‘Bradtke’ strutting their stuff on the court.
No, it’s not NBL legends Andrew Gaze, Nigel Purchase and Mark Bradtke rolling back the clock to tackle the young upstarts of the evolving Australian basketball scene. It’s the next generation of superstars driving the Tigers forward into the oncoming decades.
For just how titanic an institution the Melbourne Tigers are within the Australian basketball landscape, the ‘Gaze’ name sits upon a pedestal, such are the contributions made by Lindsay and Andrew over the decades.
The Mitsubishi Motors NBL1, its clubs and conferences will celebrate the rich history of Australian state basketball this week in the inaugural Heritage Round ?
— NBL1 (@NBL1) May 27, 2024
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After all, the NBL’s MVP night is labelled ‘the Gazeys’, the Coach of the Year Trophy is named after family patriarch, Lindsay, and the MVP award bears Andrew’s name after he won it a record seven times.
Although the Tigers no longer operate at NBL level, they’re a powerhouse of community engagement and player development in NBL1, and Mason Gaze is carrying the torch of his family’s legacy from the 1970s into the 2020s.
The 22-year-old is currently averaging 12.9 points per game this season as the Tigers sit 12th with a 6-6 record at the time of writing, and his game has taken another leap forward since his breakout season last year.
For a young talent feeling out his own way in the game, there could easily be added pressure to perform given the heritage of the Gaze name. After all, it is synonymous with absolute, unparalleled greatness in Australian basketball.
Mason though, having played at the Tigers his whole life, says there is no pressure, and the best way to continue his family’s legacy at the club is to contribute to a thriving Tigers community both on and off the court.
“I don’t have any recollection of any time in my life where I wasn’t around the Tigers. In basketball it’s always been the Tigers for me,” Gaze told NBL Media.
“I know at the club my surname has quite a lot of meaning and purpose, and that’s a credit to my grandpa for what he’s built not just at the club, but for basketball in Australia.
“His influence is second to none and it’s what he’s strived for and wants to be known for and he’s done a great job. With dad through his playing, he was pretty good I’m pretty sure – he did alright – then just giving back to the community, that’s what grandpa did, that’s what dad did, and that’s what I’m trying to do now.
Mason Gaze with the TOUGH fadeaway ?
— NBL1 (@NBL1) May 10, 2024
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“I’m playing to enjoy it as my passion and I want to be the best I can on the court, but off the court what I want to be known for and what I think the Gaze names wants to be known for – not to speak to them – [is the sense of community]. That’s what’s always been instilled within me and my sisters, and all the other Gazes.
“We all give back to the community in the basketball world. My sister is the director of coaching for the Tigers’ girls program, I coach quite a few teams here, so just trying to help out as many people as we can in the basketball world, especially at the Melbourne Tigers.
“What my dad always says and what his dad said is ‘once a Tiger always a Tiger’. Even if they’re a junior and go elsewhere they’re always a Tigers athlete. In saying that, people always come back. They want to come back and are welcomed with open arms.
“I give credit to grandpa for that because when the club was starting, building and it was developing when the game was growing, he always had the open arms, father figure approach to his players when he was a coach, that’s what his philosophy was.
“Those players are now in their 50s and 60s and because they learned that from, I think, grandpa, they have that same approach because that’s who we are as a club and that’s what we want to be known for.”
Related: Tom Wilson: Returning to his first love
Gaze is far from the only generation-spanning name to currently be representing the Tigers in NBL1. For all Mason’s burgeoning quality as a sharpshooting, offensively charged wing and Austin Bradtke’s obvious potential in his debut NBL1 campaign, Jack Purchase is the player leading the way for this new generation of Tigers stars.
Jack, now 27, is the current reigning Co-NBL1 South MVP, which he won alongside Dan Trist last season, and has previously represented Melbourne, Perth and Adelaide at NBL level.
His father, Nigel, represented the Tigers alongside Andrew Gaze 236 times over nine seasons and averaged a career-best 16.4 points per game in 1987.
He also holds the record for the longest shot in NBL history, which was made against the Brisbane Bullets in 1991.
Mason Gaze, Jack Purchase and Austin Bradtke's fathers combined to play 1193 NBL games for the Melbourne Tigers (images via Xavier Papadakos).
In addition to representing the Tigers, Jack and Mason both wear the numbers their fathers made famous during their own playing days. Gaze in 10, and Purchase in 24.
It would be easy for both to try and distance themselves from the era-defining run their fathers took charge of at the Tigers through that golden era of NBL basketball, but instead they’re embracing their family’s history at the club and sit comfortably with the mantles that have been handed to them.
“I love it … to play with him now and wear the same numbers our dads did,” Gaze said.
“Jack and I have become quite close in the past couple of years. It’s interesting, because when I was younger, I looked up to Jack because he’s six years older than me.
“He plays very similar to Nigel as well, hitting me on backcuts, not for lobs, but hitting me on cuts and getting me good looks and helping each other out on the court, I love it. Jack and I both love it.
What a dime by Jack Purchase ?
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“We haven’t really talked about it too much but it is fantastic and I could imagine Nigel and dad, they love it too. It’s great for the family, his family always comes to the games and my family always comes to the games.
“It’s a big family affair of Gaze's and Purchase's at the home games and it’s fantastic, we both really, really love it.”
Away from that familial heritage he has at the Tigers though, Gaze just wants to play, and it’s that passion for the game that, he says, releases any perception of pressure on him to perform purely because of that famous family name.
Mason, like Andrew and Lindsay before him, is Tigers through and through, and that long-held passion for both the game of basketball and his lifelong club has led him to embrace his unique situation.
“I was doing the Tiny Tigers for the Melbourne Tigers junior club since I was born, basically. My sisters all played so I was at MSAC every morning running around in a Tigers jersey of some kind,” he said.
“I’ve never felt any pressure as such, it’s not like I was forced into playing basketball and it’s something I don’t want to do, and if that was the case I probably would feel some pressure, but that’s never been the case at all.
“It’s always been my choice to play and to play at the Tigers, I feel like I’ve earned my way into all the junior teams I made, the youth league program and now playing in our NBL1 team and doing my best there.
“I’m lucky to be in the position where I have the resources I do, not only within my family but in the Tigers community. The Tigers community gives a lot with the ex-players who are always really happy to help.
“There’s no pressure as such, what I always say is I don’t know life without my last name or my family, and I wouldn’t change anything even if I could.”
The Melbourne Tigers will clash with the Keilor Thunder this weekend on Saturday, June 1 at 7:30pm AEST.
