Adelaide 36ers

The Adelaide 36ers are Adelaide's men's professional basketball team, established as the Adelaide City Eagles when they joined the National Basketball League (NBL) in 1982. The Adelaide 36ers tally of four championships is equal with the Perth Wildcats and Melbourne Tigers as the most by any team in the NBL's history.

Club history

The Adelaide 36ers were formerly known as the Adelaide City Eagles when they joined the NBL in 1982, and the club changed its name to the Adelaide 36ers in 1983 with the nickname reflecting the Adelaide's settlement in 1836. This is similar to Philadelphia's NBA franchise 76ers adopting their nickname in reference to the signing of the Declaration of Independence in Philadelphia, in 1776.

Between 1982 and 1991 the home court of the 36ers was Apollo Stadium. In 1992 the team moved to the Clipsal Powerhouse.

The Adelaide 36ers were previously sponsored by [http://www.pura.com.au/ Pura milk] and with the naming rights of Pura Milk 36ers. Before this they were the West End 36ers (as in West End Brewery).

The 36ers have reached the playoffs 17 times in 22 seasons, and on top of their four championships (1986, 1998, 1999, 2002), reached the Grand Final on two other occasions.

In April of 2006 the 36ers, the Adelaide Lightning WNBL team and the Distinctive Homes Dome went up for sale due to mishandling of debt owed to the government by the then owner BASA. The 36ers were allegedly priced at around $1 million. On July 25, 2006, a consortium of Mal Hemmerling & Eddie Groves bought the Adelaide 36ers & the Distinctive Homes Dome for $3.95 million - with Mal Hemmerling in place as owner of the 36ers and Eddie Groves as the owner of the stadium. The money for the sale went to the government to wipe out the debt owed by BASA. BASA is now defunct and replaced by Basketball SA - focused solely on all Basketball in SA and no one competition.

Famous fans include television presenter Grant Denyer, and former World Number 1 Tennis Player Lleyton Hewitt.

[http://www.nbl.com.au/default.aspx?s=newsdisplay&aid=3607 NBL article on sale]

Honour roll

Source: [http://www.nbl.com.au/default.aspx?s=36ers_history www.nbl.com.au]

Club MVP

* 1982 "not awarded
* 1983 "not awarded
* 1984 "not awarded
* 1985 Mark Davis
* 1986 Mark Davis
* 1987 Mark Davis
* 1988 Mark Davis
* 1989 Mark Davis
* 1990 Mark Davis
* 1991 Mark Davis
* 1992 Mark Davis
* 1993 Mark Davis
* 1994 Robert Rose
* 1995 Robert Rose
* 1996 Rick Brunson
* 1997 Brett Maher
* 1998 Brett Maher & Darnell Mee
* 1999 Kevin Brooks
* 2000 Martin Cattalini
* 2001 Darnell Mee
* 2002 Brett Maher
* 2003 Brett Maher
* 2004 Martin Cattalini
* 2005 Dusty Rychart
* 2006 Brett Maher
* 2007 Brett Maher
* 2008 Adam Ballinger

Source: [http://www.adelaide36ers.com www.adelaide36ers.com]

Current roster

36ers Transactions 07/08

Returning: Brett Maher, Matt Sutton, David Cooper, Jordan Dodman, Lanard Copeland

Departing: Brad Hill (South Dragons), Willie Farley* (Fabiano, Italy), Nick Horvath* (South Dragons), Brett Wheeler (Retired), Adrian Majstrovich, Mark Nash

Free Agents Signed: Brad Davidson (Singapore), Adam Ballinger (Wollongong), Brad Newley (Townsville), Axel Dench (Melbourne), Mike Chappell eventually replaced by Julius Hodge

36ers Transactions 08/09

Returning: Brett Maher, Adam Ballinger, Brad Davidson, David Cooper

Departing: Mike Chappell (USA), Lanard Copeland (Retired), Darren Ng (Singapore), Julius Hodge (USA)

Free Agents Signed: Jacob Holmes (South Dragons), Brad Hill (South Dragons), Paora Winitana (Breakers), Aaron Bruce (USA)

External links

* [http://www.adelaide36ers.com Adelaide 36ers website]
* [http://www.nbl.com.au National Basketball League website]