Melbourne United connecting with Victorian basketball history through new past players program

Victoria has a rich history of professional basketball, reaching back to the inception of the NBL in 1979.

When the league launched as a 10-team league, there were just two Victorian teams in the competition; the St Kilda Saints and Nunawading Spectres. Within five years, there were six Victorian clubs in the league, which had expanded to 16 teams, underlining the strength of Australia’s traditional basketball heartland.

While teams and organisations have come and gone from Australia’s top professional league, Melbourne United is committed to representing and uniting the history of Victorian basketball through its new past players program.

One of the ways United is aiming to do this is through the launch of its new Legends Box; a space for the club to host past players from all of Victoria’s former clubs to cheer on the defending champs.

Melbourne United CEO Nick Truelson said “After arriving at the club and listening and learning from lots of past players and coaches, as well as current club people, we thought it was an opportunity to welcome back past players and coaches to the club in an open and authentic way.

“There were three key areas that we thought about how this could be done in the most authentic way; Recognition, Entertainment and Employment.

“We thought the Legends Box was an opportunity to welcome back past players and coaches to the club in an open and authentic way.”

A pair of rivals from the 90s will occupy the Legends box for Melbourne’s first home game, Throwdown XIII, delivered by DoorDash: Tigers icon Ray Gordon and Magic sharpshooter Andrew Parkinson.

Gordon, who has his number 8 Tigers jersey hanging in the rafters at John Cain Arena, and Parkinson were bitter rivals during their playing careers, with their competitiveness coming to blows multiple times on the court.

However, in retirement, the duo have re-connected, with Ray, along with a collection of other former players, helping raise funds to help ‘Parky’ with his battle with small-cell carcinoma, a rare form of cancer.

Able to attend games again, ‘Parky’ is excited to watch the league’s hottest new rivalry, Throwdown XIII, delivered by Doordash.

“I am honored to sit in the United Legends Box with my old rival Ray Gordon,” Andrew said.

“Rivalries are great for the sport, but I’m happy to be on the same team as Ray as we both feel aparat of Melbourne United’s history, and are excited to be a part of their future endeavours.”

Outside of the legends box, Melbourne United has also looked at employing a number of former Victorian NBL players in full-time roles, such as Darryl ‘Dmac’ McDonald as an assistant coach and Adam Ballinger as Schools and Community Program Facilitator.

With the connection to Victoria’s basketball history strengthening by the week, now is the perfect time for fans of basketball to support Melbourne United by getting tickets to their first three home games, or becoming a member.