Razorbacks to represent all of Sydney

Following the demise of the Sydney Kings basketball franchise, the West Sydney Razorbacks is to change its name to the Sydney Spirit for the 2008/09 season.

As Razorbacks Chief Executive Steve Aquilina explains "we want to unify the game of basketball in Sydney. We have been given a huge responsibility as the face of basketball in this city and we are determined to offer all Sydney sports fans a team that they can be proud of, irrespective of where they live.

"Our team will be the only Sydney franchise in the NBL this season and we feel it is vital that we represent the entire community of Sydney. By evolving into the Sydney Spirit, we believe we are offering all basketball fans in this city a team to call their own. It is now our job to go suburb-by-suburb, community-by-community and association-by-association to build our supporter base."

Aquilina said the decision to move on from the Razorbacks name was not taken lightly, stating "the Razorbacks have been synonymous with Western Sydney since they entered the competition so by continuing to use that name, we would disenfranchise many other Sydney residents. We looked at over 2,000 different names before settling on Sydney Spirit. We have also canvassed both Razorbacks and Kings supporters to get their combined feedback on the name and it has been overwhelmingly supported."

With the new team colours and logo to be unveiled shortly, the Spirit will play out of Sydney Olympic Park and will set up its training facilities and offices in the precinct. It is anticipated that some games may also be played out of the Kings former homecourt, the Sydney Entertainment Centre.

Scott Derwin, the interim Chief Executive of the newly merged National Basketball league and Basketball Australia, said the move had been given NBL approval.

He explained "this is a bold move by the club to ensure they are truly representative of the whole city of Sydney. The NBL are supportive of the name change and we believe that it will provide the club with the best possible opportunity to capture the full support of the Sydney marketplace, rather than continuing to represent just the West."