Adelaide 36ers great Kevin Brooks slams state league basketball club Central Districts for ‘lack of respect’

ADELAIDE 36ers great Kevin Brooks has hit out angrily at a state league basketball club hierarchy, saying he was pressured to quit as coach with five matches still remaining.

Central Districts women’s basketball coach and former Adelaide 36er Kevin Brooks has slammed the Lions after he says they tried to get him to resign this month. Picture: Luke Hemer.

ADELAIDE 36ers great Kevin Brooks has slammed Central Districts Basketball Club’s hierarchy after he says it tried to get him to quit as coach with five matches remaining.

Third-year Lions coach Brooks — a dual championship winner at the 36ers — said club officials wanted him to step down on the night of its game against West Adelaide on July 10.

The former Denver Nuggets NBA forward said he initially agreed to do so before deciding against it after his squad protested the decision and threatened to not play.

He will now leave the Lions, who are bottom with a 3-18 record, at the end of the season.

“The club decides they want to replace me and they use some excuse about giving a new coach a chance to come in and get used to the players,” Brooks said.

“It’s a bit of an insult but I said to them ‘OK, I’ll step down’ ... but then the girls said ‘if you get rid of KB, you’re not going to have a team’.

“With five games to go, give me the respect I deserve.

“It’s a bit disappointing the way that I’ve been treated there.”

Brooks said the team began the season with “a lot of girls who didn’t have the right attitude”.

“Some girls I kicked off early on and some girls quit when they couldn’t have their way, if they couldn’t start or I put them down to a lower level.

“It’s been a big battle but now we’ve finally got 10 girls who have the right attitude and the right character, and so we’re playing better basketball.”

Brooks, a 36ers assistant who had previously coached Woodville’s men and New Zealand club Wellington, said no one wanted the senior role at Central when he took it in 2013.

The Lions had lost several stars and last year fielded one of the most inexperienced teams in state league history with an average age of about 18.

Under Brooks, Central has finished bottom in each of the past three seasons.

“It’s been a challenge, don’t get me wrong, but it has made me a better coach,” he said.

“Even though the wins don’t show on the board, we’ve done a decent job just trying to develop some talent and results have become respectable.”

Lions president Terry Nathan said the club did not ask Brooks to resign, but rather told him before the West game that it was considering bringing in an interim coach amid “major concerns”.

He said Lions officials were worried about having just 11 players for Premier League and reserves after several had left the club during the season but did not intend to make a decision until the committee met the following day.

“I told him we do have major concerns but until we had the whole committee together, we couldn’t make a decision,” Nathan said.

“He proceeded to tell the girls it was going to be his last game.”

Nathan said the club’s committee decided the day after losing to West to keep Brooks as coach for the remainder of the season.

“Overall, it hasn’t necessarily worked out as well as we’ve liked to over a three-year period but that’s OK, we’ll rebuild.”

Brooks said he would throw a dinner for his coaching staff and players at the end of the season to thank them for their efforts.

He said he would consider coaching a men’s state league team next season.

“I appreciate the opportunity and wish the club the best of luck but it’s time to move on,” he said.