You wouldn’t have to be a die-hard basketball fan to have been absolutely sickened to have heard the news that the Sydney Spirit basketball franchise is teetering on the brink of extinction. Indeed, you’ve probably asked yourself the same questions that I did upon hearing that club owner Greg Evans has been forced to put the team into administration after just two months of existence, namely: Why was the team given a girly moniker that would sound more at home in netball’s ANZ Championship (alongside such naming triumphs as the Canterbury Tactix, Central Pulse, and Melbourne Vixens. Were they trying to name sporting teams, or strip clubs?)?; Is this the same Greg Evans that hosted dating game show Perfect Match in the 1980s, and if so, how did his experience in this role equip him for the rigours of professional sports franchise ownership?; and what has become of ‘voice of Sydney basketball’, Rodney O?

In truth, Sydney basketball franchises (including the now defunct City of Sydney Astros, Sydney Supersonics, West Sydney Westars, West Sydney Razorbacks), have never experienced a great deal of success, either on the court, or in terms of local popularity. The one partial exception would of course be the Sydney Kings, who achieved a fabled championship ‘threepeat’ during the early 2000s, but were at their height of their popularity during the early to mid nineties, a time when local youths temporarily laid down the Steeden rugby league ball and the Kookaburra cricket bat, in favour of a Spalding basketball as they attempted to emulate the signature aerial flare of Dwayne ‘the D-Train’ McClain, stroke a three from outside the arc like Damian ‘Three-oh’ Keogh, or hustle boards in the paint like Dean ‘Man Mountain’ Uthoff.

Basketball’s flame burned only briefly in this city and with potentially only days until the Spirit officially folds altogether, we must now look to what future, if any, the sport has in Sydney. Indeed, some are saying that the recent losses of the Sydney Kings, the Brisbane Bullets, the hugely popular Singapore Slingers, and now potentially the Spirit, may herald the end of the NBL itself. I know I wouldn’t be the only basketball fan in this city to shed a tear if this were to come to pass. In the meantime, I can think of no better way of commemorating the stillborn Spirit than buying a jersey from their website. It’s certainly an extremely attractive jersey, replete with the traditional colours of NSW, and enhanced with so many sponsors that you can barely see the team name. At the time of printing, these were still going for the bargain price of $80; but something tells me you’ll be able to add a couple of 0s to the end of that price in future years as serious collectors look to obtain a little piece of Sydney sporting history.

A poignant poll sits in the corner of the team’s website, asking ‘Where will your Sydney Spirit finish this season?’ The options given are ‘Champions’, ‘Runners Up’, ‘Top 4’, or ‘Top 8’. The only option it seems they never foresaw having to canvass was ‘A sad footnote in the proud history of Australian professional basketball’.

Photo by StuSeeger