Adelaide 36ers - 36ers Curse

36ers Curse

The "36ers Curse" refers to the team's long held inability to win games against teams who are either celebrating a milestone, or creating one.

Some examples of the 36ers Curse include:

• 1993 - Losing 103-105 to new NBL team, the Townsville Suns (now Townsville Crocodiles) at the Clipsal Powerhouse on 25 June. It was the first road win by the Suns.
• 2003 - Losing 110-111 to the New Zealand Breakers in the Breakers first game at the North Shore Events Centre on 1 October.
• 2003 - Losing 99-103 to new NBL team the Hunter Pirates at the Newcastle Entertainment Centre on 29 October in what was the Pirates first NBL win.
• 2006 - Losing 91-97 to new NBL team the Singapore Slingers* at the Singapore Indoor Stadium on 20 September. It was the first game and the first win for the Slingers.
• Losing 66-96 to the Melbourne Tigers at Hisense Arena on 9 November 2012. Debuting for the Tigers was American import player Jonny Flynn, who was drafted No. 6 overall in the 2009 NBA Draft by the Minnesota Timberwolves. Flynn became the highest NBA draft pick to play in the NBL.

On 16 November 2012, just one week after the loss to Melbourne, the 36ers appeared to have finally broken their curse when they defeated long time rivals the Perth Wildcats 69-65 in front of a record 11,562 fans for the Wildcats opening game at the new A$548.7 million Perth Arena. However, in their very next game the 36ers Curse returned when Adelaide went down 73-75 to the Townsville Crocodiles at the Townsville Entertainment Centre, giving the previously 0-10 Crocs their first win of the 2012-13 NBL season.