Adelaide 36ers: Five things you need to know

• Adelaide have four NBL championships, in 1986, 1998, 1999 and 2002
• They lost the NBL26 Championship Series 3-2 to Sydney, game five in overtime
• Bryce Cotton won his sixth MVP in his first season at the club

Four NBL championships, none since 2002, and a Championship Series that went to overtime in game five. The Adelaide 36ers, explained.

Adelaide are South Australia's only NBL club and the Adelaide Entertainment Centre remains one of the harder rooms in the league to win in. Their four championships came in two bursts, one in 1986 and three between 1998 and 2002, and there has been nothing since. NBL26 was the closest they have come in that time: 23-10, second on the ladder, and beaten in overtime in the fifth and deciding game of the Championship Series.

NBL26 SEASON SUMMARY

• Record: 23-10, finished second
• Semi-finals: beat South East Melbourne 2-1
• Championship Series: lost 3-2 to the Sydney Kings
• Ignite Cup: reached the inaugural final, lost 111-107 to the New Zealand Breakers
• All-NBL: Bryce Cotton (First Team, and the league MVP), Zylan Cheatham (Second Team)

The season ended five minutes from a title. Adelaide led by six inside the last two minutes of game five at Qudos Bank Arena before Sydney levelled it, and the Kings outscored them 18-6 in the extra period. Cotton finished with 35 points and nine assists in defeat. It was Adelaide's ninth grand final and their first since 2018.

Cotton's own year was the story of the season. He won his sixth NBL Most Valuable Player award in his first year at the club, having won the previous five at Perth.

THE OFF-SEASON

Mike Wells left after two seasons and Adelaide replaced him with Trevor Gleeson, who coached the Perth Wildcats through the period in which Cotton won all three of his NBL championships.

The playing core stayed. Cotton, Cheatham, Flynn Cameron, Ben Griscti, Isaac Humphries, John Jenkins III, Matt Kenyon, Nick Rakocevic, Keanu Rasmussen and Isaac White are all contracted. Cheatham re-signed in December 2025 for two more seasons.

Bul Kuol arrives from Sydney, where he was part of the side that just beat Adelaide in the Championship Series. Deonte Williams steps up from the Bankstown Bruins in NBL1 East as a development player. Dejan Vasiljevic, a captain and the roster's best floor spacer, is the significant loss.

TEAM HISTORY

The club joined the NBL in 1982 as the Adelaide City Eagles and changed its name after that first season. The 36ers name comes from 1836, the year the Colony of South Australia was proclaimed. In 1984 they merged with the West Adelaide Bearcats, the state's other NBL club and the 1982 champions, and the combined side was a contender straight away.

They reached the grand final in 1985 and lost to the Brisbane Bullets, then beat the same opponent for the title a year later, 113-91. Mark Davis was the grand final MVP that season, and in 1987 he shared the league MVP award with Brisbane's Leroy Loggins. The 1986 team was later named the greatest side in NBL history.

Adelaide returned to the grand final in 1994 and lost. Phil Smyth took over in 1998 and delivered three championships in five seasons, in 1998, 1999 and 2002, with Brett Maher captaining all three and Darryl Pearce and Kevin Brooks alongside him.

Since then the club has reached two grand finals, in 2014 and 2018, losing to Perth and Melbourne United. In 2020 they signed Josh Giddey as an NBL Next Star. He was drafted sixth overall by Oklahoma City in 2021 and finished 2025-26 with 31 career triple-doubles at Chicago.

Bryce Cotton signed in 2025 and took them to within an overtime period of ending the drought.

CLUB LEGENDS

Mark Davis arrived in 1985 as a 24-year-old power forward from Philadelphia and stayed until 2001. He won the Grand Final MVP award in the 1986 championship, led the league in rebounding three seasons running, and shared the 1987 MVP with Brisbane's Leroy Loggins. His 33 is retired.

Brett Maher holds the club record at 525 games. He captained all three Smyth-era championships, won the Grand Final MVP award in 1999 and 2002, played more than 100 games for the Boomers and captained Australia at the 2001 Goodwill Games in Brisbane, the first 36er to captain his country. His 5 is retired, and the main court at the club's old home was renamed in his honour.

Al Green won the 1982 NBL MVP with the West Adelaide Bearcats and came across in the 1984 merger. His 15 is retired by Adelaide, which is a neat piece of the club's history: one of its four retired numbers belongs to a player who won his MVP for the other Adelaide team.

Darryl Pearce and Kevin Brooks anchored the Smyth era, and Jerome Randle won the MVP in 2017. Rick Brunson, father of the NBA's Jalen Brunson, was the club's most valuable player in 1996.

Josh Giddey signed as an NBL Next Star in 2020 and was drafted sixth overall by Oklahoma City the following year. Bryce Cotton is the most decorated player the club has ever signed.

HONOUR ROLL

• Championships: 1986, 1998, 1999, 2002
• Grand final appearances: nine, in 1985, 1986, 1994, 1998, 1999, 2002, 2014, 2018 and 2026
• NBL Most Valuable Players: Mark Davis (1987), Jerome Randle (2017), Bryce Cotton (2026)
• Grand Final MVPs: Mark Davis (1986), Kevin Brooks (1998), Brett Maher (1999 and 2002)
• Retired numbers: Darryl Pearce (4), Brett Maher (5), Al Green (15), Mark Davis (33)

TWO THINGS WORTH KNOWING

The 1986 championship team was named the greatest side in NBL history 25 years after the fact, during the 2011-12 season. They won the title 113-91 and their average winning margin across that year was 17.8 points.

After the 1999 championship, Adelaide were invited to the McDonald's Championship in Milan, the club world championship of its day, played at the 12,000-seat Fila Forum.

FIVE FAST FACTS

1. Adelaide are the only NBL club to have beaten an NBA team, 134-124 against the Phoenix Suns on 2 October 2022.

2. The 36ers name comes from 1836, the year South Australia was proclaimed.

3. Four numbers are retired: Darryl Pearce (4), Brett Maher (5), Al Green (15) and Mark Davis (33).

4. Brett Maher played a club-record 525 games and captained all three of the Smyth-era championships.

5. Rick Brunson, father of the NBA's Jalen Brunson, was the club's most valuable player in 1996.

CLUB TIMELINE

• 1982: Joined the NBL as the Adelaide City Eagles.
• 1983: Renamed the Adelaide 36ers.
• 1984: Merged with the West Adelaide Bearcats.
• 1985: First grand final, lost to the Brisbane Bullets.
• 1986: Beat Brisbane 113-91 for a first championship.
• 1994: Reached the grand final and lost.
• 1998, 1999, 2002: Three championships in five seasons under Phil Smyth.
• 2014 and 2018: Grand finals lost to Perth and Melbourne United.
• 2020: Signed Josh Giddey as an NBL Next Star.
• 2022: Beat the Phoenix Suns 134-124, still the only NBL win over an NBA team.
• 2025: Signed Bryce Cotton.
• 2026: Lost the Championship Series 3-2 to Sydney, game five in overtime.

Cotton is the reigning MVP, Gleeson is the coach who was there for all three of his championships, and the roster that took Sydney to an extra period is largely intact. If Adelaide are going to win a title for the first time since 2002, this is the shape of the team that does it.