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Adam Gibson has been one of Australia’s best basketball players the past decade.
With two NBL championships and an Olympics appearance amongst his accomplishments, unfortunately the last year has been tough, and that continued with what appears a season-ending injury Friday night.
Gibson’s NBL career got off to a rocketing start joining the Brisbane Bullets and being part of a championship in 2007. Only the club folding saw him looking for a new home and he lobbed in Melbourne at the South Dragons winning another title in 2009.
Again only with the Dragons failing to exist any longer saw Gibson after another new club, and it was back to south-east Queensland to play at the Gold Coast Blaze. He had three good seasons there in talented teams again with Joey Wright as coach, but they couldn’t quite make a grand final.
It was a familiar tale when the Blaze folded and Gibson again looking for a team, and this time he lobbed at Adelaide and he spent the past four seasons with the 36ers, including making another grand final in 2014 with Wright once more his coach.
Along the way, Gibson has been a regular representative for the Australian Boomers highlighted by him taking part in the London Olympic Games in 2012 along with the World Cups of 2010 and 2014.
He has racked up the NBL accolades as well including being named Defensive Player of the Year back in 2009.
That is a career on its own that with well over 300 NBL games to his credit that will stand on his own two feet, but at just 30 years of age there is plenty of gas left in the tank of Gibson who returned this season to Brisbane to play with the Bullets.
It was a return he had been hoping for given how much he enjoyed his initial run at the Bullets to start his NBL career. Upon return almost 10 years later, he was appointed captain as he tried to move on from a difficult previous 12 months.
Gibson enjoyed his time with Adelaide for four years, but last season didn’t go as well as he would have liked either personally or team-wise without a playoff appearance at the end of it following the grand final the previous year.
Then as an Olympic incumbent from London, Gibson wasn’t selected to play in Rio. While he understood the decision, it certainly did sting especially when Boomers coach Andrej Lemanis is now his coach with the Bullets.
But Gibson was looking to put all that behind him and focused on achieving some more success with the Bullets on their return to the NBL. It has had its challenges particularly with season-ending injuries to big men Anthony Petrie and Cameron Bairstow.
Gibson, though, was continuing to lead Brisbane from the front to try and secure a playoff position. He was doing well also on Friday night with an equal season-high of 17 points before in the final minute his season could well have been ended.
As Gibson took off, he could feel something pop in his lower leg. He looked around to see who caused it, but when nobody was there he immediately knew it wasn’t good news. It’s hard to imagine it is anything other than a calf tear.
Personally, I suffered something exactly the same when I was playing a different sport at a significantly lower standard. It felt like someone threw a wet tennis ball at the back of my calf. Turned out I had opened up quite a sizeable tear in my calf muscle instead.
Either way it likely has ended his 2016-17 NBL season as a disappointing last 12 months stretches into the new year for the veteran, respected and well-liked guard.
Considering the Bullets had built their team around the experience and quality of Gibson, Petrie and Bairstow, it’s now going to take quite an effort for them to still stay in the playoff hunt.
For Gibson, he was keen for a fresh start after a disappointing final season on Adelaide.
The pleasing thing was that for the first time in his career he was leaving a club on his terms and not because they ceased to exist and returning ‘home’ to Brisbane was something that reinvigorated his passion.
“I feel weird saying it’s home and I know mum might get mad because I’m from Tassie but it does feel like coming back home in a lot of ways. I definitely consider Brisbane my basketball home and it’s great to be back,” Gibson said.
“It was a nice feeling to have the option to leave after I had been forced out with teams not being there anymore before. I always said that if Brisbane had still been there that I would be a one club player but that hasn’t worked out obviously.
“It was nice to have an option this time instead of being forced to find a new club and that’s why I’m pretty happy with where I am. It was 100 per cent my decision and it’s worked out so far. The club have been great in setting everything up and looking after the players and their partners, and their families. It’s awesome to be part of.”
A disappointing season for the team in Adelaide and then missing the Olympics, and now a potentially season-ending injury aren’t all great news pieces for Gibson.
But he’s always been someone to remain positive and with everything he has achieved in his career, he’s had plenty more highs than lows. While not being picked for Rio hurt, it never affected his relationship with Lemanis and nothing will ever change that he was there in London.
“Obviously from when I got cut there was a fair amount of time from that to when we started with the Bullets so I had enough time to somewhat get over it, and kind of move on and what not,” Gibson said.
“It hasn’t been brought back up with me and Andrej, and it just is what it is and I’m focused on moving forward. At the end of the day, we are here to do a job with the Bullets so what happened with the Boomers is something else.
“It probably helped a little bit that I had already been to an Olympics. Not many people get to be an Olympian so I’m honoured to have gone to one. To go to two would have been awesome, but it probably did help accept it knowing I had been there before.
“At the time it didn’t really make it easier and I would have loved to be there again, but upon reflection I will always be able to call myself an Olympian and I’m proud of that.”
ROUND 15 NBL FIXTURES (AEDT)
THURSDAY
Adelaide 36ers 100 beat Melbourne United 73 – Titanium Security Arena
FRIDAY
New Zealand Breakers 92 beat Sydney Kings 74 – Vector Arena
Illawarra Hawks 85 beat Brisbane Bullets 80 – WIN Entertainment Centre
SATURDAY
Melbourne United v Cairns Taipans – State Netball & Hockey Centre 7.30pm
Perth Wildcats v Adelaide 36ers – Perth Arena 9.30pm
SUNDAY
Brisbane Bullets v New Zealand Breakers – Brisbane Convention & Exhibition Centre 3pm
MONDAY
Cairns Taipans v Perth Wildcats – Cairns Convention Centre 7.30pm