Where were you when the Adelaide 36ers parted ways with head coach Scott Ninnis?
The players were told while they were lifting weights, by Ninnis himself. He approached some of the players and told them, "This c--t just fired me," motioning to the 36ers' new General Manager of Basketball, Matt Weston, who made the decision and was standing to the side. For the players, it was disbelief at first, before the reality set in. The playing group debated whether to practice that day; they did, but most would admit it felt like a blur.
That was a Monday. The day before, Mike Wells was at an AFL game, watching Adelaide FC smash the Western Bulldogs at Adelaide Oval. "There were some text messages late that night," Wells, who replaced Ninnis as the team's head coach, told ESPN.
"The next morning, there was a meeting, so it picked up steam right when I was about ready to go to bed."
Kendric Davis -- the 36ers' dynamic import point guard recruit -- was still in the U.S.; his arrival to Australia was delayed because he had to obtain a passport. When he heard the news, he reached out to Weston.
"I don't think I'm coming," Davis recalled. The point guard had some concerns about how that coaching change may affect his role.
Weston immediately called his new import.
"We talked and we talked, and I got a chance to talk to Mike, seeing how he wanted to do things as a scheme," Davis said.
"Knowing him as an NBA coach, as an unbelievable coach in the NBA for 28 years -- that's a long time as a coach, and he's been around some legends -- so I knew I was in great hands. But, sometimes it's bigger than basketball. I wanted to know what he was like as a human being, what he stands for, and it aligned with what I stand for... And, I knew basketball-wise, he was a genius.
"I had dudes in the NBA text me, telling me I was in good hands. So, I just wanted to get to know him as a coach, as a human being, and that's what won me over. I told Matt: man, you made a great decision with Mike, just because of who he is."
It's a sentiment a lot of the players held in the immediate aftermath of the change. There was an affinity for Ninnis, but an acknowledgment that, despite Wells' lack of experience as a head coach, his basketball IQ and coaching acumen was undeniable. The playing group knew they were about to hit the court under a proven and respected basketball mind, so the transition wasn't a particularly difficult one.
Wells' resume was enough to garner an inherent respect from his playing group. The most important thing he had to do, though, was win over the trust of the 36ers' two most important players: Isaac Humphries and Dejan Vasiljevic. Weston calls them the team's "pillars". Both signed three-year deals this offseason to remain in Adelaide, with the assumption that it would be under Ninnis for at least two of them. A high-level, demonstrated local player on a multi-year contract is arguably the most valuable asset any NBL team could have, and the 36ers have two of them.
"I think he's very knowledgeable," Vasiljevic said of Wells.
"He kind of reminds me of Chase Buford, when I was in Sydney. He knows his stuff; 30 years in the NBA, he's been part of FIBA with Team USA. I think he can be really good for us. His Xs and Os are off the charts, ATOs are off the charts. It's just now about getting the whole playing group playing together."
Humphries has experienced both ends of the spectrum thus far under Wells over the preseason and start of the regular season -- shining in some games, while looking uninvolved in others -- but largely echoed the sentiments of his long-time friend and teammate.
"His experience is, I think, unmatched in the league," Humphries said of Wells.
"He's extremely experienced in the basketball world; the NBA, in particular. That can also come with challenges, because we play so different to the NBA, but he's so knowledgeable and so quick with his basketball IQ, that I think it's gonna be a quicker adjustment than what you'd think it would be.
"He's a great coach. I've been coached by many people now, and he's a great coach; there's no doubt about it. He's a great person, too, which always helps. We're all getting to know each other. There'll always be teething, but there's no question of his knowledge and coaching ability, at all."
Teething is inevitable for any person who enters a new ecosystem, no matter how experienced he is. Any expectation that Wells' assistant coaching experience in the NBA would immediately transfer to success in the NBL is probably unfair, but his resume is enough to trust that he'll implement effective processes to get there.
Internally, the 36ers' decision-makers don't see the 2024-25 season as do-or-die. They're hoping to turn last season's ninth-place finish into postseason basketball this time around -- the franchise hasn't been in a playoffs since the 2017-18 campaign -- with an eye toward continued growth beyond that. Making the postseason is step one, before hopefully becoming a perennial playoff contender. It's a measured approach under a new head coach in Wells, who's on a three-year deal with the 36ers, sources told ESPN.
"He's got a good growth mindset in terms of wanting to learn," Weston said of Wells.
"He's one of those coaches, like a Dean Vickerman, a [Brian] Goorjian, all your elite coaches, he's that. I think he's gonna bring us that ability to build a platform.
"That's going to help us build into a window. Perth have it, the Kings have it, Melbourne United has it; they had to build into that. It didn't just come. Chris [Pongrass] has done a great job in Sydney, building into that. Perth has a legacy. We want to do that. If we can get to a point that, pretty much on any given year, we're gonna be respected as a top-four team, I think we're doing well. That puts you in a position to get into a three and five game series to try and win it. That's where I see Mike being able to take us there, because there are so many things you've gotta do right and got to do well."
But, before Wells looks too far ahead, he has a unique task directly in front of him, with the roster he's been tasked to lead.
There's some continuity within the team in Humphries and Vasiljevic, along with complementary players like Jason Cadee, Sunday Dech, and Nick Marshall, but adding a new, young American point guard to an NBL team can come with its challenges.
Davis was a unique recruit for the 36ers. He's a 5'11 scoring guard who's a supremely talented offensive player, but had never played basketball outside of the U.S. The 25-year-old signed in Adelaide after just one year in the NBA G-League, where he averaged 18.1 points and 7.4 assists per game for the Santa Cruz Warriors, and everyone in the organisation knows the transition won't come without a learning curve.
"It's gonna be a really unique challenge for him because the FIBA style, and the NBL style, is so unique," Wells said of Davis.
"The pressure, how hard people play, a 30-game schedule, a 77-possession game, and the value that's not only on each game, but the value that's on each possession, which is totally different than the G-League or the NBA. It's about him getting used to that sort of physicality and full-court pressure.
"With young scoring, ball-dominant guards, there's always gonna be a fine line between getting others involved and getting yourself involved. It's a very hard thing. You've got to figure out, as a young guard, when it's time to get your shot, and you've got to have the pulse of the group; 'hey, man, DJ hasn't had a shot in a while, or Isaac hasn't had a touch for a while'. That's a hard balance."
When Davis first arrived in Adelaide, Vasiljevic quickly noticed some of the FIBA nuances that his point guard hadn't quite grasped yet. In one of Davis' first practices with the 36ers, he kept moving his foot in and out of the paint on defence.
"I'm like, 'bruz, you need to understand there's no defensive three seconds; you can just sit in the paint as long as you want'," Vasiljevic said.
"He's like, 'I didn't know that'. So then, I think, maybe we go out to lunch or whatever and I explain these rules. And, he gets them now. But, basketball is basketball. You've gotta let a man who can score like that go and hoop, and he's been doing that so far.
"He reminds me a bit of Casper Ware, the way he plays. I think it's kind of incorporating him, [so he can] understand the FIBA game."
The signing was necessarily a gamble -- bringing someone in who's never played the FIBA game before -- and has had its ups and downs thus far. There were positive glimpses in the preseason, but the beginning of the regular season has been shaky.
Over the 36ers' first two games -- both losses -- Davis is averaging 12.5 points and 8.0 assists, while shooting just 30 percent from the field, including 30.1 percent from downtown. The extremely small sample size has to be noted, and it's the sort of thing both Davis and the team are hoping can be a constructive awakening for Davis of the level of the NBL as they aim to tap into his potential.
"We're still learning what each other likes and doesn't like," Davis said.
"It's easier playing with DJ, because our games are similar; we're both in the backcourt, and we both have our goals we wanna set. Me and DJ, we talk, we wanna be the best backcourt in the NBL. It's easier to gel, knowing we need each other to win. Ice, I'm still learning where his spots are, where he likes it on the floor. Does he like alley-oops? Bounce passes? What types of pocket passes? Where does he like it on the block? Defensively, where does he like to move? It's a fun process learning guys, but I think sky's the limit for us three. We're all great teammates, so I know it'll work."
The 36ers' offseason wasn't just eventful because of their surprise head coach firing. One of their key import recruits -- former Sydney Kings forward, Jarell Martin -- had a setback, suffering a foot injury that would have him out for a significant period of time.
Weston had already demonstrated that he isn't one to sit on his hands, so he quickly went searching for a replacement. Former Bullets wing Lamar Patterson was in the 36ers' building for a period of time, but the team didn't feel he was in a position to make an impact for them.
The 36ers then played a preseason game against the Bullets in Mount Gambier. Through that contest, some of the holes in the team became evident, particularly from a frontcourt perspective: "We knew there was a significant void there, in terms of a presence around the glass," Weston said.
With NBA teams locking in training camp rosters and two-way spots, some players were suddenly available and willing to sign internationally.
One of those players was former NBA Sixth Man of the Year, Montrezl Harrell.
The 30-year-old was coming off an ACL and meniscus tear that saw him miss all of last NBA season, and he was looking for an avenue back into the league. The NBL's style of play appealed to Harrell, so Weston made contact with his agent, Darrell Comer.
"I stayed up a couple of nights -- one, in particular, was very late -- on calls with Darrel and 'Trezl to work it out, and to pitch it, on why he should come here and what we'd be able to do for him," Weston said.
ESPN broke the news of Harrell's signing in the middle of the Blitz, as 36ers players were in their cars traveling back to the team hotel after a practice.
The big-man would ultimately join the team for their regular season opener in Perth -- as part of the inaugural HoopsFest -- and put on a show. Harrell came off the bench for 13 points and 13 rebounds against the Kings, before dropping 20 points against the Taipans the following game. He's still working his way into game shape, but his style of play has seamlessly translated to the NBL, with his physicality and motor too much for the league's frontcourts thus far.
"His basketball IQ is exceptional," Wells said of Harrell.
"He hasn't been in a team concept for a little bit, but he hit the ground [running], and he had a very good idea of what we were trying to do, and has been a leading voice in the locker room, on the sideline, in the game. I think he's only gonna get better with more time with us, and more minutes.
As expected, Harrell has been intense and vocal to open his stint with the 36ers, and the league is watching with fascination how all of the characters within that locker room mesh. The 36ers have a new but credentialed head coach, an inexperienced point guard whose admirable confidence is only exceeded by the local star he plays alongside in the backcourt.
Add the reverberating voice of Harrell, and it feels like the outcome can only be one of the two extremes.
But, for all the drama -- "I've played in Adelaide a while now," Humphries said. "It just feels like there's never a dull moment." -- everything ultimately circles back to what's sustainable. Humphries, Vasiljevic, and Wells are all on long-term deals, so figuring out how to transform the 36ers into a winning program is front and centre.
"I play this game because I love it, but I also play because I wanna win," Vasiljevic said.
"Jason Cadee, one of my teammates, has never won in the NBL. I'm very fortunate; I've played four years and won two championships. I want people like that to experience, toward the end of their career, the winning feeling. I play for the fans, and Adelaide's embraced me, so I play for the entire city."
Humphries is in that boat, too. He's shown that he can stay healthy and, when he does, that he's one of the NBL's elite bigs, but has yet to achieve significant team success in the league.
"I would like to be part of a winning situation, so winning a championship," Humphries said.
"I know everyone says it and it's so cliché. But, when you've never been in a playoff series or made any top-six ever in your professional life, I just want to be part of something winning.
Wells is aware of the unique and talented pieces he has in front of him that need to be maximised, while also acknowledging where things could fall short. The 36ers have taken risks with their roster construction; those could very well pay off and see the team reach what appears to be a high ceiling, or they won't reach an ideal level of cohesion in time and fall to an equally extreme floor.
"There are gonna be some days that are really, really good, and there are gonna be some days or halves, or possessions that aren't gonna be so good," Wells said.
"As long as we have the majority, then we should be alright."