South East Melbourne Phoenix: Five things you need to know

• The Phoenix finished NBL26 third at 22-11, the best season in club history
• They have never reached a grand final in seven seasons
• John Brown III and Nathan Sobey both made the All-NBL First Team in 2026

The Phoenix are the NBL's second Melbourne club and its second-youngest, and NBL26 was comfortably the best season they have had. Third at 22-11, a play-in win over Perth, and a semi-final series that went the distance. It still ended where all six of their previous seasons ended, short of a grand final.

NBL26 SEASON SUMMARY

• Record: 22-11, finished 3rd
• Seeding qualifier: beat Perth 111-94
• Semi-final series: lost 2-1 to Adelaide
• Head coach: Josh King
• Captains: Jordan Hunter and Nathan Sobey
• All-NBL First Team: John Brown III, Nathan Sobey
• NBL Best Sixth Man: Angus Glover

Every one of those numbers is a club record or close to it. Twenty-two wins beats their previous best by three, third is their highest finish, and two All-NBL First Team selections in one season is more than the club had managed in its first six years combined.

THE CLUB

• Home: John Cain Arena and the State Basketball Centre
• Founded: 2018, debuting in the 2019-20 season as the NBL's ninth club
• Owner: Romie Chaudhari
• CEO: Simon Derrick. General manager: Simon Mitchell
• Head coach: Josh King
• Captains: Jordan Hunter and Nathan Sobey

The Phoenix have played 210 regular season games for 106 wins and 104 losses, and have reached the finals four times in seven seasons, in 2021, 2023, 2025 and 2026. They have no championships and no grand final appearances.

HOW THE CLUB CAME TO EXIST

The NBL sold its ninth licence to Romie Chaudhari, a co-owner of Swansea City, in July 2018. Chaudhari has since described how close it came to not happening.

"I originally said no to doing the deal," he said. "It wasn't something I'd planned. But after a few weeks, Matt Walsh (then owner) at the New Zealand Breakers convinced me to look at it properly."

He flew to Melbourne, toured the facilities and decided inside forty hours. The clincher was access to the State Basketball Centre as a base, which he was never given in writing. He hired Tommy Greer as general manager on the spot.

The club was named on 17 November 2018, Simon Mitchell was the inaugural head coach, and Mitch Creek was the first marquee signing. Chaudhari also says the club passed on LaMelo Ball, who instead signed with Illawarra and went third in the 2020 NBA draft.

TEAM HISTORY

The Phoenix debuted on 3 October 2019 and beat Melbourne United 91-88 in their first game. The season did not sustain it. They finished eighth at 9-19, but drew the biggest crowds any first-year Australian basketball club has drawn, 75,179 across fourteen home games.

Mitch Creek was the face of the franchise for six seasons, and made four All-NBL teams in that time. In 2020-21 the Phoenix made their first finals, finishing fourth at 19-17 and losing a semi-final series 2-1 to Melbourne United. That remained their high point for four years.

NBL25 is the season the club will keep telling. They lost their first five games, parted with head coach Mike Kelly, went 2-1 under interim coach Sam Mackinnon, and appointed Josh King from round seven. They finished fourth and made the finals, becoming the first NBL club to reach the finals after an 0-5 start in the 40-minute era. Illawarra beat them 2-1 in the semi-finals and went on to win the championship.

In October 2025 the Phoenix hosted the New Orleans Pelicans at Rod Laver Arena, losing 127-92. It was the 27th NBLxNBA fixture and the first ever played in Australia. Zion Williamson had eight points, nine rebounds, three assists, three steals and two blocks in fifteen minutes.

Then NBL26, and the best year the club has had.

THE COACHING CHURN

Four head coaches in seven seasons. Simon Mitchell built the club and now runs basketball operations as general manager. Mike Kelly was let go five games into NBL25. Sam Mackinnon held it together as interim, and Josh King has had it since.

King's first full off-season produced one early casualty. Belgian import Vrenz Bleijenbergh arrived with real expectation and the two parted before the NBL26 season had started.

"It just wasn't the right fit for our team," King said. "There's no bad blood or hard feelings, it was a mutual decision between both parties."

The club also did not renew Sam Mackinnon's contract after two seasons as an assistant, a decision that surprised people given his part in the NBL25 turnaround. Mackinnon is an NBL MVP, a two-time championship winner and a two-time Olympian.

CLUB LEGENDS

Seven seasons is not long enough for many, and the Phoenix have retired no numbers.

Mitch Creek is the obvious one. He was the first marquee signing, the face of the club for six seasons, and made four All-NBL teams as a Phoenix: First Team in 2023, Second Team in 2021, 2022 and 2024.

Nathan Sobey is now the closest thing to a successor, a captain and an All-NBL First Team selection in 2026.

John Brown III joined him in that First Team in 2026, and Angus Glover won the Best Sixth Man award in the same season. Matthew Hurt made the First Team in 2025 before leaving for Italy.

Simon Mitchell is the other constant: the club's first head coach and now its general manager.

HONOUR ROLL

• Championships: none
• Grand final appearances: none
• Finals appearances: four, in 2021, 2023, 2025 and 2026
• Regular season championships: none
• All-NBL First Team: Mitch Creek (2023), Matthew Hurt (2025), John Brown III (2026), Nathan Sobey (2026)
• All-NBL Second Team: Mitch Creek (2021, 2022, 2024)
• NBL Best Sixth Man: Angus Glover (2026)
• Retired numbers: none

SEASON BY SEASON, THE WHOLE HISTORY

• 2019-20 8th 9-19 Simon Mitchell, did not qualify
• 2020-21 4th 19-17 lost the semi-final series to Melbourne United
• 2021-22 6th 15-13 did not qualify
• 2022-23 5th 15-13 lost the play-in qualifier to Perth
• 2023-24 10th 10-18 did not qualify
• 2024-25 4th 16-13 lost the semi-final series to Illawarra
• 2025-26 3rd 22-11 Josh King, lost the semi-final series to Adelaide

Seven seasons, 106 wins and 104 losses, and no grand final. Two of the seven finishes are top four and two are bottom three, which is the shape of a club that has not yet settled.

FIVE FAST FACTS

1. The Phoenix are the only club in the NBL never to have reached a grand final.

2. They beat Melbourne United 91-88 in the first game they ever played, on 3 October 2019.

3. Their derby with Melbourne United is called the Throwdown, and both clubs share John Cain Arena.

4. In NBL25 they became the first NBL club to reach the finals after starting a season 0-5 in the 40-minute era.

5. The Phoenix hosted the New Orleans Pelicans at Rod Laver Arena in October 2025, the first NBLxNBA game ever played in Australia.

CLUB TIMELINE

• 2018: The NBL sold its ninth licence to Romie Chaudhari, and the club was named in November.
• 2019: Debuted on 3 October and beat Melbourne United 91-88.
• 2021: Reached the finals for the first time and lost a semi-final series to Melbourne United.
• 2023: Returned to the finals and went out in the play-in.
• 2024: Finished tenth, the club's worst season.
• 2025: Started 0-5, changed coach twice, and still made the finals.
• 2025: Hosted the New Orleans Pelicans at Rod Laver Arena in the first NBLxNBA game in Australia.
• 2026: Finished third at 22-11, the best season in club history, and lost a semi-final series to Adelaide.

WHAT NBL27 LOOKS LIKE

The Phoenix go into NBL27 having just had their best season and lost their semi-final anyway. That is a better problem than the one they had two years ago, when they finished tenth.

The open question is whether third at 22-11 was a ceiling or a floor. They have a settled coach for the first time in three years, two All-NBL First Team players, and a club that has now spent seven seasons being told it is Melbourne's second team. A grand final would end that sentence for good.