As Joey Wright prepares for his 500th game as an NBL coach on Saturday night, we look at 10 big moments at the Adelaide 36ers
As Joey Wright prepares for his 500th game as an NBL coach on Saturday night, it could also be his last with Adelaide. We look back on 10 of the biggest milestones and moments in his seven seasons in charge of the 36ers.
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Joey Wright takes charge of an NBL team for the 500th time as coach on Saturday night but it could also be his last with the Adelaide 36ers.
Amid uncertainty over whether Wright will continue at the helm next year, The Advertiser looks back on 10 memorable milestones and moments in his seven years with the 36ers.
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1. Bottom to top (almost) in Year 1.
Adelaide finished bottom of the NBL ladder in 2012-13 under Marty Clarke when Wright took over for the 2013-14 season.
The move triggered an immediate response with the Sixers going from an 8-20 record to 18-10 in just one season.
They beat Melbourne in a three-game semi-final series and progressed to the grand final against Perth where they won game two at home but couldn’t overcome the Wildcats in the west in game three.
Remarkably, their resurgence wasn’t enough to win Wright the NBL’s coach of the year award – that went to Wollongong’s Gordie McLeod.
2. Rumble in the jungle
Well not quite a brawl but it was some all-in push and shove that lasted over a minute on the Wildcats’ home court in February, 2014 and Wright was front and centre of it.
The incident highlighted the extent to which Wright has worn his heart on his sleeve and was a ‘flag in the ground’ type moment that sent a message to his players that he would stand up for them no matter what.
The Wildcats had just beaten Adelaide 85-61 when Sixers’ import Gary Ervin and Perth’s Greg Hire were involved in an altercation.
As more players got involved, Wright stepped in and claimed he was pushed by Perth assistant coach Adam Tatalovich.
As the argument became physical, Wright’s glasses were damaged and he took aim at Perth’s coaching staff as the two teams made their way off the court in a fiery end to the contest.
3. Finishing top
After finishing second, third and fifth in his first three years in charge, Adelaide’s ascension under Wright continued when they finished the 2016-17 NBL season on top of the ladder.
The 36ers started slowly but gained serious momentum in the second half of the season, going top after Round 11 and staying put until the end of the regular season.
Jerome Randle and Daniel Johnson were both named in the All-NBL First Team and Nathan Sobey in the Second Team but unfortunately for the Sixers they couldn’t maintain their form in the finals.
Despite winning game one of their semi-final series against Illawarra, Adelaide lost game two and game three (by just two points) which ended their championship bid.
4. Coach of the year – at last
After snubbing him in 2013-14 when he led the Sixers’ incredible resurgence, there could be no arguments in 2016-17 when Wright was finally recognised as the league’s best coach.
Wright was named ‘coach of the month’ in November, December and January and won the Lindsay Gaze Trophy on MVP night – joining Gaze and Brian Goorjian as three-time winners.
5. “We’ll do the best we can”
Wright’s catchcry during the 2017-18 NBL grand final series against Melbourne United, “we’ll do the best we can”, even made it onto a T-shirt.
It started after he was fined $5000 by the NBL for comments he made in response to a question at a press conference about the referees when he pointed out that Melbourne United and the league were owned by the same man, Larry Kestelman.
He then blanked his weekly media press conferences and pre and post-game would only answer questions with “we’ll do the best we can”.
It wasn’t the only time the NBL hit Wright’s hip-pocket. In September, 2018, he was fined $1500 and given a one-game suspended sentence for breaching its code of conduct. It’s understood the fine stemmed from comments he made in an email exchange with the league’s referees boss.
6. One win away from a championship in 2017-18
After winning an NBL championship with Brisbane in 2007, Wright came within one game of a second with Adelaide in 2018 when the 36ers fell just short in game five.
Led by MVP Mitch Creek, the 36ers finished second on the ladder then beat Perth in straight sets to advance to the grand final series against Melbourne United.
They won games two and four at home while dropping one and three in Melbourne which was the scene for game five.
That night the Sixers were never really in it as a Chris Goulding-led United clinched the championship 100-82.
7. ‘The villain’
Wright was never far from the headlines on game day but he took exception to the league using his image with the words ‘the villain’ in a marketing and production meeting.
It was accompanied by the words “a challenge for the referees … watch The Villain work over the refs in #NBL18”.
The image somehow made it onto social media and Wright was furious, labelling it a deliberate and systematic attempt to discredit him.
The NBL confirmed the legitimacy of the image but said it was never published and only used in discussion about how to promote rivalries within the competition.
8. NBA dream realised
Wright was drafted with Pick No. 50 by the Phoenix Suns in 1991 but never set foot on an NBA court as a player.
So when the Adelaide 36ers flew to Utah to play the Jazz in Salt Lake City in 2018, Wright fulfilled a lifelong dream albeit as a coach.
Having previously served on Utah’s coaching staff in its summer league, Wright led Adelaide in a historic NBL-NBA pre-season game in October, 2018, and his team more than held its own.
They led 31-28 at quarter-time and were within eight points of the NBA powerhouse at three-quarter-time only to be blown away in the last and lost 99-129. Wright and Adelaide returned to Utah again in 2019 to play the Jazz a second time.
9. Top three of all time
On February 2, 2020, Wright moved past Alan Black on the list of all-time NBL games coached and he celebrated game number 498 with a 100-93 win over the South East Melbourne Phoenix.
Wright is behind only Lindsay Gaze (651) and Goorjian (735) as the most experienced coach in the league’s history after stints at Gold Coast and Brisbane before Adelaide.
10. 500 and out?
But could game number 500 also be his last, at least in charge of the Adelaide 36ers on Saturday night? Speculation has been swirling for over a week now that Wright was set to part ways with the club at the end of the season. While he and owner Grant Kelley have remained tight lipped about the future, his 500th game as an NBL coach could take on added significance against the Wildcats this weekend.
Originally published as As Joey Wright prepares for his 500th game as an NBL coach on Saturday night, we look at 10 big moments at the Adelaide 36ers