# South East Melbourne Phoenix

The South East Melbourne Phoenix are an Australian professional basketball team based in the south–eastern Melbourne suburb of Wantirna South, Victoria. The Phoenix entered the National Basketball League (NBL) in the 2019–20 season. The team play the majority of their home games at John Cain Arena, which they share with fellow NBL team Melbourne United, with some games being played at the State Basketball Centre.

## Franchise history

With plans to expand the National Basketball League (NBL) beginning with the 2019–20 season, the league sold a franchise licence to Swansea City co-owner Romie Chaudhari in July 2018. It was later announced that the league's ninth franchise would be based in south-eastern Melbourne. On 17 November 2018, the team's name was announced as South East Melbourne Phoenix. The team logo and colours were also revealed. Former NBL player Tommy Greer was the inaugural general manager, Simon Mitchell was the inaugural head coach, and forward Mitch Creek was the first marquee player signing.
The Phoenix debuted in the 2019–20 NBL season, with their first game being on 3 October 2019 against cross-town rivals Melbourne United at Melbourne Arena. The Phoenix won 91–88. They started the season with a 3–0 record before reaching 6–6 after twelve games and then winning three of their final 16 games. They finished the season in eighth position with a 9–19 record. The Phoenix averaged the highest crowd figures ever for a first-year start-up club in Australian Basketball, with a total of 75,179 fans attending their fourteen home games at an average of 5,369 fans per game. Creek and American guard John Roberson were the standout players.
In the 2020–21 NBL season, the Phoenix qualified for their maiden finals berth after finishing in fourth position with a 19–17 record. The team won six out of seven games between rounds 9 and 12. In the semi-finals, the Phoenix lost 2–1 to Melbourne United. Alongside Creek, forward Yannick Wetzell and import Keifer Sykes were key players for the team.
In the 2024–25 NBL season, the Phoenix started by going winless over their first five games, which led to the club parting ways with head coach Mike Kelly. After going 2–1 under interim coach Sam Mackinnon, new coach Josh King took over from round seven. The Phoenix went on finish in fourth position and reached the semi-finals, where they lost 2–1 to the Illawarra Hawks.

## Home arena

The Phoenix are headquartered and train at the State Basketball Centre, located in Wantirna South, part of the South-Eastern City of Knox region that forms part of the club's strategic engagement area. The Phoenix play most of their home games at John Cain Arena, which is known as "The Fire Pit" during Phoenix Games. The Phoenix also play a select number of regular season games at the State Basketball Centre each season. During the 2020–21 NBL season, COVID-19 border closures meant that the Phoenix had to relocate their last two home games against the Cairns Taipans and Brisbane Bullets to Cairns Pop-Up Arena. They also hosted their semi-final home game at Qudos Bank Arena in Sydney.
On 25 January 2022, the Phoenix played a regular season game against the Cairns Taipans at the Gippsland Regional Indoor Sports Stadium (GRISS) in Traralgon. The Phoenix have played one game at the GRISS every season since, in a partnership with the Latrobe City Council and the Victoria State Government.
* John Cain Arena (2019–present)
* State Basketball Centre (2020–present)
* Cairns Pop-Up Arena (2021)
* Qudos Bank Arena (2021)
* Gippsland Regional Indoor Sports Stadium (2022–present)

## Current roster

Note: Flags indicate national team eligibility at FIBA-sanctioned events. Players may hold other non-FIBA nationalities not displayed.

### Notable players

Note: Flags indicate national team eligibility at FIBA-sanctioned events. Players may hold other non-FIBA nationalities not displayed.
* Criteria
* To appear in this section a player must have either:
* Set a club record or won an individual award while at the club
* Played at least one official international match for their national team at any time
* Played at least one official NBA match at any time.
* / Deng Acuoth
* Keith Benson
* Ryan Broekhoff
* Mitch Creek
* Adam Gibson
* Cameron Gliddon
* Angus Glover
* Matthew Hurt
* / Trey Kell
* Izayah Le'afa
* / Junior Madut
* Ben Moore
* Xavier Munford
* Abdel Nader
* Tohi Smith-Milner
* Nathan Sobey
* Keifer Sykes
* Reuben Te Rangi
* Tom Vodanovich
* Derrick Walton
* Tai Wesley
* Joe Wieskamp
* Alan Williams
* Zhou Qi

## Honour roll

| NBL Championships: | 0 |
| Regular Season Champions: | 0 |
| NBL Finals Appearances: | 3 (2021, 2023, 2025) |
| NBL Grand Final appearances: | 0 |
| All-NBL First Team: | Mitch Creek (2022/23) |
| All-NBL Second Team: | Mitch Creek (2020/21, 2021/22, 2023/24) |
| NBL Rookie of the Year: | N/A |
| NBL Most Improved Player: | N/A |
| NBL Coach of the Year: | N/A |
| NBL Best Sixth Man: | N/A |
| NBL Best Defensive Player: | N/A |
| GameTime by Kmart: | Dane Pineau (2019/20), Kyle Adnam (2020/21), Reuben Te Rangi (2022/23) |

## Season by season

| NBL champions | League champions | Runners-up | Finals berth |
| Season | Tier | League | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season | Post-season | Head coach | Captain | Club MVP |
| Season | Tier | League | Finish | Played | Wins | Losses | Win % | Post-season | Head coach | Captain | Club MVP |
| S.E. Melbourne Phoenix ||||||||||||
| 2019–20 | 1 | NBL | 8th | 28 | 9 | 19 | .321 | Did not qualify | Simon Mitchell | Mitch Creek Adam Gibson | Mitch Creek |
| 2020–21 | 1 | NBL | 4th | 36 | 19 | 17 | .528 | Lost semifinals (Melbourne) 1–2 | Simon Mitchell | Kyle Adnam Adam Gibson | Mitch Creek |
| 2021–22 | 1 | NBL | 6th | 28 | 15 | 13 | .536 | Did not qualify | Simon Mitchell | Kyle Adnam | Mitch Creek |
| 2022–23 | 1 | NBL | 5th | 28 | 15 | 13 | .536 | Lost play-in qualifier (Perth) 99–106 | Simon Mitchell | Kyle Adnam Ryan Broekhoff Mitch Creek | Mitch Creek |
| 2023–24 | 1 | NBL | 10th | 28 | 10 | 18 | .357 | Did not qualify | Mike Kelly | Mitch Creek | Mitch Creek |
| Regular season record | Regular season record | Regular season record | Regular season record | 148 | 68 | 80 | .459 | 0 regular season champions | 0 regular season champions | 0 regular season champions | 0 regular season champions |
| Finals record | Finals record | Finals record | Finals record | 4 | 1 | 3 | .250 | 0 NBL championships | 0 NBL championships | 0 NBL championships | 0 NBL championships |
As of the end of the 2023–24 season