SINGAPORE: As Singaporeans close the curtains on 2023, it was a bittersweet year for many who have walked the journey with the nation’s only professional basketball team, the Singapore Slingers.
The ASEAN Basketball League debuted in 2009, with the Slingers being one of the founding clubs. One player who found absolute joy with the Slingers is forward Ng Han Bin, who developed with the team as a young player and also went on to represent the Singapore national basketball team.
Joining from the 2010-2011 season onwards, Ng played before deciding to call it quits after the 2019 campaign, enduring multiple injuries.
His tapestry of resilience and love for the game brought him back to the team six months later, as he made a winning return against Saigon Heat on Jan 29, 2020. However, he did not have much playing time that year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The league matches would soon be suspended from March, and the ASEAN Basketball League 2019-2020 season would officially end in July as the organiser could not find a safe way to complete the remaining matches.
Looking back at his time with the Slingers, Ng shared with The Independent Singapore several fond moments in which he gained inspiration and strength.
There are times when he might doubt whether this sport is right for him, but he never backs out; instead, he surges forward and navigates every obstacle with determination as he rises above the setback.
“I started my Slingers journey as a development player back when I was 20. To name a few, giving back to the community through the Slingers outreach programmes and meeting many young fighters, especially a boy named Nickson, who showed me true resilience and the purpose of life,” said Ng, who played each game in remembrance of Nickson Yee, a Slingers’ fan who died of leukaemia when he was just 15 years old in 2017.
“Thank you for the lessons. Professional basketball career was nothing more than a pipe dream when I first fell in love with the game. Slingers and ABL turned my dream into reality. The journey was tough. Times of questioning if I was cut out to be a professional basketball player were inevitable, yet the burning passion for the sport kept me trying time after time.”
While Ng still spends his time on the court with local club Adroit in the National Basketball League (Division 1), the experience is different compared to turning out for the Slingers competing against regional basketball teams and playing in front of a supportive home crowd at the Singapore Sports Hub.
“For the local competition, I would say the focus is more on enjoying the game with my close friends and keeping fit. As for Slingers, it was the only professional team in Singapore, hence the level of commitment and sacrifice were incomparable. Enduring through tough trainings with my teammates day in and day out – Soaking in the atmosphere of a sellout crowd at OCBC Arena. Tickets were sold out in an hour for Game 5. The electrifying crowd cheering us on for every possession will always be remembered,” mentioned the 34-year-old.
“Playing for Slingers is similar to representing Singapore on the international stage, and there was always an innate desire to represent it well. Slingers and ABL also played a big role in growing the local basketball scene. ABL will definitely be missed,” added Ng, who also represented Singapore at the SEA Games, winning two bronze medals in 2013 and 2015.
Although the future looks uncertain for the Slingers and ASEAN Basketball League, there were scenes of jubilation for Ng and his teammates at Adroit as they won the 2023 National Basketball League Division 1 championship, defeating Eng Tat Hornets 50-49 in a thrilling final played at the Singapore Basketball Centre on Nov 26.
There were no doubt many memorable moments for those who had turned out for the Slingers, but the club’s announcement in November would strike a chord of both frustration and sadness in the players looking forward to donning their jerseys again.
Two months ago, the Slingers announced with ‘a heavy heart’ and a ‘great disappointment’ that the ASEAN Basketball League would unlikely to resume in the foreseeable future. The club were informed by FIBA, the international governing body for basketball, that the league ‘does not fit into FIBA’s future plans for basketball in the region’.
Read related: Slingers’ future uncertain as FIBA withdraws support for ASEAN Basketball League