Ray Borner
Raymond Helmut Borner OAM is an Australian basketball coach and former player who is currently the head coach of the Ballarat Miners of the NBL1 South. He played 22 seasons in the National Basketball League, earning the NBL Most Valuable Player Award in 1985 and winning an List of [NBL champions|NBL championship] in 1989, both as a member of the Coburg / North Melbourne Giants. He also played for the Illawarra/Wollongong Hawks, Geelong Supercats and Canberra Cannons.
Playing career
NBL
Borner debuted in the NBL in 1980 for the Coburg Giants. In 1985, he was named the NBL Most Valuable Player, becoming the first Australian-born league MVP. After six seasons for Coburg, he joined the Illawarra Hawks in 1986. After three seasons for the Hawks, he joined the North Melbourne Giants in 1989 and won his first and only NBL championship that year. He played four seasons for North Melbourne before joining the Geelong Supercats in 1993. After two seasons for the Supercats, he joined the Canberra Cannons, where he spent six seasons between 1995 and 1999–2000. He had one final stint during the 2000–01 NBL season, playing two games for the Wollongong Hawks in January 2001. He played in the NBL All-Star Game every year between 1991 and 1995.Borner finished his NBL career with 518 games over 22 seasons. He was inducted into the NBL Hall of Fame in 2006.
The Ray Borner Medal is a medal awarded during the NBL's annual Pre-season Blitz tournament. In 2013, the award was reinstated for the first time since 2004. It had previously been awarded for the best player in the Blitz final, but with its reinstatement in 2013, it became the Blitz tournament MVP award. The award remains active as of 2025.