NICKNAME/S: Sobey-Wan Kenobi, Sobes

BIO: Nathan Sobey was born in Warrnambool (VIC) and began playing basketball as a junior with the Warrnambool basketball program and played his high school basketball at Emmanuel College in Warrnambool and St Patrick’s College in Ballarat, Victoria.

Sobey made his debut for the Warrnambool Seahawks in the Victorian state league senior team when he was 19 years old and from there, received a offer for Cochise, a junior college in Arizona. Sobey transferred to the University of Wyoming for his junior and senior seasons of eligibility before returning to Australia.

After playing collegiately in the United States Sobey had no offers from NBL clubs. Sobey joined the Ballarat Miners in the SEABL in 2014 and had a very strong season. He was noticed by then Cairns Taipans head coach Aaron Fearne who had been following Sobey at Wyoming and keeping tabs on him. The two were in touch when Sobey was with Ballarat and Fearne wanted to give Sobey a opportunity to develop in a NBL environment so he offered Sobey a contract as a “training player” for the team

NBL EXPERIENCE

Nathan Sobey made his NBL debut with the Cairns Taipans at 24 years of age. He went scoreless in his first NBL game.

In 2015, Cairns become the first regional team to finish the season in first place (21-7) since Geelong achieved the feat in 1984. Cairns also achieved a NBL first when Aaron Fearne utilised the same starting five of Scottie Wilbekin, Cameron Gliddon, Stephen Weigh, captain Alex Loughton and Matt Burston for all 28 games.

The roster did see some change during the season however, with training player Nathan Sobey (1.5 points, 1.7 rebounds, and 0.1 assists) being elevated into the squad mid-season after injuries to Corey Maynard (1.1 points, 1.2 rebounds, and 0.6 assists) and Shaun Bruce (3.7 points, 1.5 rebounds, and 1.7 assists). Sobey played in 10 games with Cairns as a training player and averaged 1.5 points and 1.7 rebounds Taipans squad that finished in first place finish during the regular season with a record of 21-7.

in the semifinals, they faced off against 4th seeded Perth and behind the all-around brilliance of Wilbekin (28 points, 10 rebounds, and 4 assists), who was unstoppable in their game one win (71-64). Wilbekin (16 points, 11 rebounds, and 6 assists)then led Cairns to victory in game two (80-68), progressing to the Grand Final series.

Cairns would face the New Zealand Breakers and, despite having home-court advantage, lost the opening game 86–71. A buzzer-beating fade away from Breakers forward Ekene Ibekwe resulted in a game two loss (83–81) and the Taipans missing out on winning their first NBL championship.

Wilbekin (15.2 points, 3.7 rebounds, and 4.3 assists) would lead the team in scoring and assists, as well as take home the club’s MVP award as Sobey finished the season with 1.5 points, 1.7 rebounds, and 0.1 assists per game.

Although sparingly used by the Taipans even in that small sample size he did enough to catch the eye of Joey Wright who caught some glimpses of Sobey working out after a Taipans’ practice when his Adelaide 36ers were in town. He signed a contract to play with the Adelaide 36ers for the following season.

ADELAIDE 36ERS
2015/16
The 36ers revamped their backcourt once again prior to the 2015/16 season, signing import guards Kenyon McNeail and two-time NBL champion Ebi Ere. Having lost Brock Motum to Europe and deciding not to re-sign Luke Schenscher (who then signed with Townsville), the team added two young talents in Melbourne Tigers forward Lucas Walker and a guard named Nathan Sobey who had spent the previous season as a training player with Cairns. Coach Joey Wright had noticed the young talent during warm-ups when they played Cairns and offered him a contract and a proper spot on a NBL team’s roster.

Daniel Johnson (15.5 points and 9.3 rebounds per game) continued to lead the team in scoring and rebounding, but three games into the season McNeail left the team after three games due to a shoulder injury sustained during the pre-season dunk contest. Wright was tasked with again, tracking down a suitable import point guard for the club.

The Sixers unearthed point-sized Jerome Randle, who, after being viewed as ‘too small’ to make the NBA, had spent the past five seasons in Europe and, in his own words began to ‘fall out of love’ with basketball. Randle told media that during his first under Wright, who was never known for holding back, didn’t like what he was seeing from his new star, so he called him out by saying, ‘If you don’t play your game, then you’re gonna f***in’ sit on the bench!’. That unexpected outburst struck a chord with Randle, with the Chicago-born kid thinking, ‘Damn, I’m at home now’. It was a sentiment Randle hadn’t had since leaving Chicago, and it made him proud to play basketball for the first time, in a long time.

Randle (23.0 points, 2.8 rebounds, and 5.2 assists) went on to score 30 points or more four times, including a 40-point effort on November 5 against Perth and finished the year as the league’s leading scorer, becoming the first Adelaide 36ers player to do so. He also earned the inaugural NBL Australia Post Fan’s MVP.

Sobey spent his first season in Adelaide developing his game but still in limited playing time. He averaged 4.0 points and 1.5 rebounds alongside Randle and Johnson, helping the team finish with a 14-14 record.

Despite Randle’s great individual season, the 36ers failed to make the playoffs, finishing in fifth place (14-14). At season’s end, Randle was selected to the All-NBL First Team, and Johnson to the All-NBL second team.

2016/17
In the 2016 NBL off-season, the 36ers managed to retain superstar Jerome Randle as well as sign promising young prospects Anthony Drmic, the younger brother of former NBL player Frank Drmic, Sudanese born local Majok Deng and import forward/centre Eric Jacobsen. Also joining the club was NBA Draft prospect 18-year-old high school star Terrance Ferguson from Tulsa, Oklahoma. Ferguson, who chose to play as a professional in the NBL rather than commit to playing college basketball, was the test case that led to the NBL creating the Next Stars Program.

While most experts predicted the young and relatively inexperienced 36ers to finish last, by mid-season, they had emerged as the team to beat. Early season injuries to captain Mitch Creek (ankle) and Daniel Johnson (hamstring) saw Adelaide start the season slowly (3-6), the low point being a brutal loss to Brisbane (87-105) in Round 7 that resulted in them dropping to the bottom of the ladder. With a healthy roster, Adelaide would do a 180 and defeat Brisbane (101-83) comfortably in the very next game and proceed to reel off a eight-game winning streak, and by round 11, they had gone from last place to first. By round 16, they had won 14 of their last 15 games and locked in first place with three more rounds to go. In fact, they were so far ahead of the rest of the league, even with the 36ers losing their final four games of the regular season, they still finished two games ahead of the rest of the competition, where they would finish the regular season (17-11).

Sobey (15.5 points, 5.1 rebounds, 4.1 assists, and 1.0 steals), in his second year in Adelaide, made the most of Creek’s absence, establishing himself as a player worthy of major minutes. Sobey moved into the starting lineup in Creek’s absence and tripled his scoring numbers from last season (4 points in 10 minutes per game) and remained in the starting lineup even after Creek’s return. Sobey’s improvement earned him a spot on the All-NBL Second Team and the league’s Most Improved Player award.

Big ups to the one and only Sobey Wan-Kenobi on taking out the Most Improved Player at #NBL17MVP @sobes2zero #NBL17 #YourGame pic.twitter.com/Tm0YFgFQlB

— The NBL (@NBL) February 13, 2017

Over the course of the season, Sobey averaged 15.5 points, 5.1 rebounds, and 4.1 assists alongside Randle (21.3 points, 3.0 rebounds, and 5.4 assists) who led the team in scoring, was selected to the All-NBL First Team and named the NBL’s Most Valuable Player. Randle become just the second Adelaide player to be win the MVP, Mark Davis (1987) being the other.. Additionally Daniel Johnson (15.1 points and 7.1 rebounds per game) would lead the team in rebounds, and Nathan Sobey was awarded NBL’s Most Improved Player award after increasing his production from 4 points, 2 rebounds, and 1 assist in 10 minutes per game to become the 36ers third option on offense, finishing the season with averages of 15.5 points, 5.1 rebounds, and 4.1 assist in 28 minutes per game.

Adelaide faced fourth-placed Illawarra in the semifinals, and although they easily accounted for them in game one (93-78), thanks to a MVP calibre performance from Randle (26 points and 4 assists), the Hawks would cause a huge upset, winning games two (100–94) and three (106-98) to end the 36ers season prematurely.

2017/18
With the 36ers’ roster proving it had what it takes to contend the championship, coach Joey Wright locked in all eight Australian players (Mitch Creek, Nathan Sobey, Daniel Johnson, Matthew Hodgson, Brendan Teys, Majok Deng, Anthony Drmic and Adam Doyle) and looked to go one step further. One notable absence from the roster was star US import Jerome Randle, who reportedly had asked for $300k per season, which was far outside what Adelaide or other NBL team’s were able to pay. Randle then chose to play in Turkey with Bahçeşehir instead of staying in Adelaide, and the team replaced him with experienced guard, Shannon Shorter.

Philadelphian shooting guard Ramone Moore (via Melbourne) and athletic forward Ronald Roberts were signed as the team’s other two imports, completing the roster.

In mid-September 2017, the 36ers travelled to Singapore in the pre-season to compete in the Merlion Cup. The team remained undefeated throughout the tournament and defeated the Shanghai Sharks in the final to be crowned the 2017 Merlion Cup Champions.

Import woes began early in the season for Adelaide. It began with import Ronald Roberts who was released a week before the season tipped off with the team citing the big man had suffered a ‘knee injury’ although Roberts responded via Twitter stating he’s ‘100 percent fine’. Veteran forward Alan Wiggins was signed as a replacement for Roberts, but he suffered a broken arm in his NBL debut against the Sydney Kings. With Wiggins requiring surgery and set to miss eight weeks, the team signed former Sydney Kings star Josh Childress.

Despite the import roller-coaster, the Sixers impressed on the road early but struggled to string consistent performances together, winning half of their first 16 games. It was around this time Randle, who had left Turkey claiming he hadn’t been paid his salary on time, enquired about returning to the 36ers, but with the team being already finalised, Randle instead signed with the Sydney Kings as a replacement for import guard Travis Leslie.

Injuries crippled the 36ers over the next month. Both Creek, who was ruled out for three weeks on December 12 2017, after tearing a small muscle from the bone from his hamstring and then Drmic (6.6 points and 2.7 rebounds), after a medial collateral ligament sprain in his left knee, would spend the next three weeks alongside him.

A disappointing 19-point loss against the Cairns Taipans at home on Christmas Eve summed up the Sixers start to the season. This loss, however, seemed to be the turning point for the Sixers, who went on to win 10 of their last 12 games, including seven in a row, and booked themselves a second spot on the ladder at the end of the regular season.

Sobey finished with averages of 12.7 points, 4 rebounds, and 2.9 assists.

in the semifinals, Adelaide would make short work of third-ranked Perth, defeating the Wildcats 109–74 in game one, the second biggest finals loss in Wildcats’ history. The 36ers rebounded in game two (89–88), defeating defeated Perth behind the stellar play of Josh Childress (25 points and 10 rebounds).

A grand final series against Melbourne came next, where United’s Casper Ware (20 points, 4 rebounds, and 4 assists) erupted in the first half of game one before exiting the game with a hip injury. United’s Chris Goulding would then step up with a impressive shooting display (26 points) to propel Melbourne to victory (107-96) at Hisense Arena. Daniel Johnson (18 points) and Mitch Creek (14 points, 9 rebounds, and 4 assists) finished as the 36ers leading scorers.

In game two, Adelaide came out with a bang with Majok Deng (18 points) leading the team in scoring. Mitch Creek and Ramone Moore (both 17 points) also stepped up as the 36ers tied the series (110-95). Casey Prather (20 points) and Chris Goulding (19 points) finishing as United’s best on court.

The 36ers’ win came at a cost however, with import Josh Childress (13 points and 8 rebounds), going down with a shoulder injury in the fourth quarter which would keep him out of the remaining Grand Final games.

The series returned to Melbourne for game three, where tensions exploded at the end of the first half, Adelaide’s Nathan Sobey clashing heads with Casey Prather after the United import hit a three-pointer on the stroke of halftime. The Adelaide guard was called for a disqualifying foul and ejected from the match. There was further drama at the end of the game with players from both team’s needing to be separated after the final buzzer. The incident also resulted in 36ers head coach Joey Wright being fined handsomely for questioning the integrity of the referees.

When the smoke settled, United won a tightly fought contest over the 36ers (101-98) after Adelaide’s Majok Deng missed a game-tying three-pointer in the final seconds. Casper Ware (25 points), Prather (23 points) and Chris Goulding (15 points), who hit three clutch triples to take control of the game, were among United’s best.

Game four saw Adelaide swingman Nathan Sobey (16 points, 4 rebounds, and 2 assists), who was ejected in game three for his part in the halftime melee, lead the way for the 36ers in the first half with the scoreboard reading 55-31 at the halfway mark. Again the home team was victorious, Adelaide getting a comfortable win over Melbourne United (90-81). Johnson (29 points and 10 rebounds) and Prather (23 points) top scoring for their respective sides.

In the deciding game five, Goulding, Ware (both 23 points) and Prather (19 points, 11 rebounds, and 5 steals) came to play and Melbourne defeated Adelaide (100-82) in front of a sold-out crowd at Hisense Arena, winning their first title since rebranding from the Tigers. Shannon Shorter (20 points) led Adelaide in scoring, while Chris Goulding was named Finals MVP after averaging 16.6 points and 3.6 rebounds over the five-game series. With the win, Prather collected his third NBL championship to become the first player in NBL history to win three straight titles in his first three seasons in the league.

2018/19
After narrowly missing out on the NBL championship the previous season, Adelaide was forced into a rebuilding mode with the departure of several key players, most notably second-leading scorer Mitch Creek. Creek left to pursue his NBA dream after a protracted negotiation between Adelaide and Basketball Australia.

During the NBL 2018 off-season, Creek was granted team approval to play in Germany with the understanding that he would return to the 36ers for the 2018/19 season. However, his strong performances in Germany caught the attention of the Brooklyn Nets, who signed him to their G-League team. The 36ers then filed an injunction to prevent Basketball Australia from approving Creek’s NBA deal without compensation, but after some initial backlash, a resolution was reached, allowing Creek to pursue his NBA aspirations.

Other departures included Shannon Shorter (to Japan), Josh Childress (retired), and Matthew Hodgson (to Brisbane). To address these roster gaps, Adelaide signed import Jacob Wiley (via Germany), who was spotted by Joey Wright at NBA Summer League as a replacement for Creek and added point guard Adris De León to assist in scoring and playmaking duties. Rising stars Harry Froling and Jack McVeigh were also signed straight out of college, injecting youthful energy into the team.

Sobey, Majok Deng, Adam Doyle, Brendan Teys, and import Ramone Moore were all also retained from the season, with team leading scorer Daniel Johnson also returning and taking over as team captain for the departing Creek.

Adelaide began the season with a loss to Perth (91–99) at home in Round 1. However, they bounced back with a win against the Sydney Kings (94–83) on the road in their next game. In Round 3, Sobey delivered one of the standout moments of the season when he recorded a triple-double (22 points, 11 rebounds, and 10 assists) in the 36ers’ win over Cairns (91–83).

Adelaide then fell into a string of four consecutive losses starting the following game with a loss to New Zealand (114–94), and culminating in a loss to Brisbane (93–90) in Round 4. Key injuries, including a calf injury to Ramone Moore, further disrupted their momentum. An ultimatum was then delivered to De Leon that if the team couldn’t turn things around with a win over Sydney in their next game, they would look at rejigging the team’s roster. De Leon would deliver 11 points, 5 rebounds, and 6 assists in 25 minutes but suffering a 12-point loss to the Kings, their fourth in a row. De León (7.7 points, 2.6 rebounds, and 2.6 assists) was released, and former Illawarra import Demitrius Conger was signed as his replacement. With Moore still unable to take the court, Adelaide also signed Shaun Bruce, who had been unsigned after three seasons in Cairns, who then played out the remaining games of the 36ers season.

Despite the challenges, Nathan Sobey (16.1 points, 5.0 rebounds, and 5.3 assists) delivered a breakout season for Adelaide. His standout performances included a 27-point, 5-rebound, and 10-assist game in a win against New Zealand (114-107) (7 Feb 2019), where he shot 9/14 from the field and 4/7 from three-point range. Another impressive game was his 24-point, 3-rebound, and 3-assist effort in a loss to Melbourne (109-122) (28 Jan 2019), where he made 9 of his 16 field goal attempts. Sobey also contributed 24 points, 4 rebounds, and 7 assists in a win against Illawarra (100-93) on 9 Dec 2018, showcasing his all-around skills.

Adelaide’s inconsistency continued, after winning back-to-back games against Cairns (109–95) and Illawarra (120–109) in Round 7, the 36ers lost a nail-biter to Illawarra at home (87–86) in Round 8. A victory over Brisbane (101–91) in Round 9 was followed by another defeat to Illawarra (90–93).

The 36ers did finally find some rhythm in Round 14, winning four consecutive games, including a crucial victory over Perth (97–84) and a dominant win against Sydney (119–99). Unfortunately, their inconsistency returned, with losses to Melbourne (114–91) in Round 16 and Brisbane (98–87 OT) in Round 17. These critical losses ultimately affected their playoff chances.

Despite the challenges, Nathan Sobey (16.1 points, 5.0 rebounds, and 5.3 assists) delivered a breakout season for Adelaide. In addition to his triple-double, his best games included 27 points, 5 rebounds, and 4 assists in a win against New Zealand (114-107) where he shot 9/14 from the field and 4/7 from three-point range (7 Feb 2019).

He also finished with 24 points, 6 rebounds, and 3 assists in a loss to Brisbane (94-98) where he made 8 of his 11 field goal attempts (15 Dec 2018), and 24 points, 4 rebounds, and 7 assists in a win against Illawarra (100-93) on 9 Dec 2018.

Sobey elevated his performance this season, achieving career highs in both points per game and field goal percentage, which sparked discussions about him being the league’s top Australian player. Alongside Sobey, Daniel Johnson (17.0 points, 6.8 rebounds, and 2.4 assists) led the team in scoring again, and both players were selected to the All-NBL Second Team at the end of the season. Other key players for Adelaide included Jacob Wiley (12.3 points, 4.9 rebounds, and 1 assist), Demitrius Conger (11.8 points, 4.9 rebounds, and 2.4 assists), Anthony Drmic (9.3 points, 4.6 rebounds, and 1.3 assists), and Harry Froling (7.9 points, 4.6 rebounds) who took home the NBL Rookie of the Year award.

Adelaide hovered between fourth and fifth place for most of the second half of the season, before finishing equal with Brisbane at 14-14. However, the Bullets advanced to the playoffs due to a higher points percentage, bringing Adelaide’s season to an end in fifth place.

BRISBANE BULLETS
2019/20
On 5 April 2019, Sobey signed with the Brisbane Bullets on a three-year deal.

Sobey averaged 16.5 points and 3.9 rebounds, and helped guide the Bullets to a fifth place finish in the regular season with a 15-13 record.

2020/21
Brisbane continued to struggle to build a solid foundation and culture in their fourth year since re-entering the league. The Bullets released Cam Gliddon (to South East Melbourne), Lamar Patterson (New Zealand) and Will Magnay (NBA), who signed a deal to play with the New Orleans Pelicans.

Entering the Bullets camp were rookie Tanner Krebs (St Mary’s – NCAA), Anthony Drmic and Harry Froling (both via Adelaide), as well as import signings Vic Law and Orlando Johnson.

The Bullets had put together a high-scoring side onto the floor, with Law (18.8 points, 8.5 rebounds, 2.6 assists, and 1.4 blocks) shooting the ball at 47% from the field and team captain Nathan Sobey (21.1 points, 5.0 rebounds, and 4.8 assists) shooting the ball at 46 FG%, and both finishing among the top five scorers in the league. A solid local frontcourt of Matthew Hodgson (10.1 points, 6.9 rebounds, and 1.3 blocks), Harry Froling (8.0 points, 4.9 rebounds) and Tyrell Harrison (5.2 points, 5.8 rebounds) made sure the Bullets outrebounded most team’s, finishing third in offensive rebounding and second in defensive rebounds across the league.

Brisbane showcased what they ‘could be’ in a win over Illawarra (97-91) where Law (29 points and 9 rebounds) and Sobey (18 points and seven assists) piled on the points while Froling and Hodgson notched up 13 rebounds combined.

Memorable games for the team included a win against top-of-the-table Melbourne (96-88). Law (10 points, 15 rebounds and 4 assists) delivered his best rebounding effort to date, and Hodgson (24 points in 27 minutes) had a season-high scoring night as well and a win over Perth (95-92), where Law (23 points and 5 rebounds) and Sobey (31 points and 4 assists) would combine for 54 points, more than half the team’s score.

The high-scoring offence and strong rebounding still saw Brisbane (8-8) struggling to win half of their games. Orlando Johnson (6.9 points, 4.1 rebounds, and 1.8 assists) was released mid-March after posting average numbers across 15 games, a move which coincided with New Zealand releasing Lamar Patterson after a niggling knee injury and sluggish start to the season.

Patterson (14.2 points, 4.6 rebounds, 3.0 assists, and 1.5 steals) returned to Brisbane, overcame the knee injury and set the stage for the Bullets to return to the playoffs, but a knee injury to Law in the very next game would rule him out for the rest of the season.

Brisbane (10-8) had been floating in and out of the top four, and while Sobey would attempt to fill the void created by Law’s injury, the Bullets would lose five of their next seven games, giving up a average of 90 points while putting up 80 of their own. This led to the mid-season signing of BJ Johnson (10.0 points, 3.7 rebounds, and 0.9 assists) who they hoped would help stem the bleeding, which it somewhat did, resulting in a 8-10 run to end the Bullets season.

Brisbane’s worst performance came against South East Melbourne (95-66) in round 19. With Sobey injured, Brisbane struggled to score at all, only putting up 66 for their season low. Anthony Drmic (20 points) and Patterson (11 points) were the only players putting up more than six points.

Despite flashes of brilliance, Brisbane stumbled to a sixth-place finish at the end of the season (18-18) and failed to reach the playoffs.

After delivering the best season of his career and boosting his scoring numbers from the previous two years of 16 and 16.5, to 21.2 points per game, second second highest in the league behind Wildcats star Bryce Cotton, Sobey was selected for the All-NBL first team. Sobey made 30 points or more seven times across the year, including a season high of 35 in a loss to Sydney (108-119). He also had four rebounds and six assists in this game.

2021/22
During the 2021/22 season Sobey averaged 16.1 points, 4.3 rebounds, and 3.5 assists and helped the Bullets finish with a record of 10-18 and ended the regular season in eighth place.

2022/23
After finishing second last the season prior, Brisbane loaded up by adding Boomers big man Aron Baynes and veteran guard Tyler Johnson who had been teammates while playing in the NBA with Phoenix.

Devondrick Walker (via NBL1) was signed as a second import and local talent Harry Froling (via Illawarra), Gorjok Gak (via Europe) and DJ Mitchell (via NBL1), son of former Bullets import Mike Mitchell, were also brought into the squad to complement the returning core of Jason Cadee, Tyrell Harrison, Tanner Krebs and captain Nathan Sobey.

The Bullets off-season recruiting saw many in the media pencil them in as a top four team but with the health of both Sobey coming back from a knee injury that had kept him on the sidelines for half of NBL22 and Baynes returning to the court after a neck injury suffered at the Olympics almost left him paralysed, many questioned their ability to stay healthy.

Six games into the season and the Bullets had yet to win a game. Baynes (11.3 points, 7.6 rebounds, and 1.0 assists) was far from the NBA player he was 12 months earlier and Sobey (15.1 points, 3.9 rebounds, and 4.6 assists) recorded his lowest numbers for points and rebounds in five years.

Brisbane then recorded back-to-back wins, both against Illawarra. The first victory (82-56) on the back of a 17 point, 14 rebound effort from Baynes and the second (86-61) thanks to Sobey, scoring 14 first quarter points and 22 first half points, both career highs. The wins marking the first time Brisbane had won consecutive matches by at least 25-points since February 2007.

A two point victory over a strong Tasmanian team (74-72) gave them a three game winning streak, but just when things started to look positive, the decision was made to release underperforming import Walker (9.0 points, 1.8 rebounds, and 1.4 assists) and fire head coach James Duncan.

Walker was replaced by Andrew White (7.6 points, 3.0 rebounds, and 0.7 assists) and Duncan was replaced by General Manager Sam Mackinnon as interim coach, a move that lasted just three games before assistant coach and former Townsville Crocodile Greg Vanderjagt took the reins for the remainder of the season but the best of the Bullets season was behind them.

Reports of an untenable relationship between Bullets CEO Peter McLennan and Mackinnon become public and during that time, Brisbane suffered two catastrophic losses, one a 37-point loss to New Zealand which saw Sam Mackinnon suffer the biggest loss by a coach on debut since Alan Black in 1989 and the biggest defeat in the history of the NBL – a 49-point beating from Sydney. Brisbane finished second last again (8-20) with three of their eight wins coming against Illawarra, who recorded their worst season ever.

While Tyler Johnson (15.9 points, 3.5 rebounds, 2.8 assists, and 1.2 steals) was nominated for the league’s Sixth Man of the Year award (won by Barry Brown Jr), it was a season of massive underachievement individually and collectively that saw a mass exodus of players at the end of the year.

Sobey, who led the franchise in points, steals, and assists was awarded the team’s club MVP, the Leroy Loggins trophy.

2023/24
For the second season in a row, Sobey led the franchise in points, steals, and assists and was voted the clubs MVP for the second consecutive season.

Nathan Sobey currently plays for the South East Melbourne Phoenix and has played 265 games in his NBL career. He has averaged 14.6 points, 3.9 rebounds, and 3.4 assists since entering the league in 2014.

CURRENT CONTRACT:

South East Melbourne Phoenix – 2 Year Deal (2024-26)

HIGHLIGHTS:

Dan Boyce (811 Posts)

Dan Boyce is a die-hard Sydney Kings fan who grew up in Melbourne during the roaring 90's of Australian Basketball and spent far too much time collecting Futera NBL Basketball cards.