Basketball Royalty Front and Centre for Sixers in NBL24

The Adelaide 36ers look set to enjoy the company of basketball royalty at their home games next season, with the club announcing club legend Ken Cole and two-time WNBA champion Erin Phillips as its number one ticket holders for NBL24.

Cole coached the 36ers to their inaugural championship back in 1986 and was a Boomers representative at the 1964 Olympics. He was inducted into the Australian Basketball Hall of Fame in 2012.

Phillips currently captains Port Adelaide in AFLW and has won three AFLW premierships in addition to her WNBA rings.

Before converting to Aussie Rules she was one of Australia’s most high-profile basketballers, and won gold with the Opals at the 2006 Commonwealth Games and World Championships, and played over 250 WNBA games.

“Ken and Erin are both extraorindarily high-achieving Australians who epitomize the values of the Adelaide 36ers,” club owner and chairman Grant Kelley said. “I could not think of more fitting number one ticket holders.

In addition to a near decade-long coaching career in the NBL, Cole also served as Adelaide’s president.

“This is a huge honour and I can’t thank the club enough,” Cole added. “For what this club means to me and the history, this feels amazing.”

Phillips’ sole WNBL championship came as a member of the Adelaide Lightening in 2008, and her exploits in both the basketball and footballing realms have established her as one of the most successful dual-sport athletes in Australian history.

“I was thrilled when I got the call and asked to be the number one ticket holder,” Phillips said. “I didn’t really expect anything like this.”

The news comes just days after the 36ers confirmed the signing of South Australian basketball icon Alex Starling to a one-year deal.