Australian basketball greats Andrew Gaze and Phil Smyth have urged the Illawarra community to help save the Wollongong Hawks.
Gaze and Smyth formed the Australian Boomers backcourt from 1984-92 and played in a combined nine Olympics from 1980-2000.
Gaze is regarded as the nation's all-time greatest player, winning two NBL championships with the Melbourne Tigers, seven NBL MVP awards and leading the league in scoring 14 times.
Smyth is widely viewed as Australia's all-time top point guard, capturing three titles as a player before making the transition to the bench and coaching Adelaide to three championship titles.
Yesterday the pair threw their support behind the Hawks' fight for survival.
"Everyone I've spoken to has said they want to see a team from Wollongong in the new competition," Gaze said.
"They really need that support from the people and the corporate sector of the community, but it'll be a huge setback if they can't get something up and running."
Smyth won titles with the Canberra Cannons in 1983, '84 and '88 before the club folded in 2003.
He hopes the Hawks were not about to plummet into the same abyss.
"I went to a Cannons reunion not too long ago and even though it was a fantastic night and everyone brought up great memories, there was a real sadness attached to it because once you're out, it's very hard to get it up and running again," he said.
"Once something dissolves and that nucleus is gone, people fragment out of the organisation and that's what the Hawks are facing.
"Everyone involved in basketball wants them to stay in the league, but the Hawks and their community are so intertwined that they really need each other. The community is the heart of the whole club, and if they don't support it and don't throw their weight behind it, it won't work, it won't happen.
"I heard they had a virtual sell-out at their last home game, and when it gets emotional people tend to get involved. But you can't survive on emotion. They need to do something about it now before it's too late."
Headed by long-standing Wollongong captain Mat Campbell, the Save the Hawks campaign has attracted 79 foundation members who have each pledged $5000 since the rescue plan was launched a fortnight ago.
Almost 1300 season memberships have also been pledged on the official website (www.savethehawks.com), with 600 people registering their names.
The business model for saving the NBL foundation club is essentially based on community ownership and would be run as a non-profit venture.
"To have 79 foundation member pledges registered in just under two weeks has exceeded my expectations," Campbell said.
"We have a total target to reach of 100 foundation members. If we can secure just 21 more pledges of $5000 we can meet one of Basketball Australia's key criteria of securing the $500,000 working capital."
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