BASKETBALL
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His former Wollongong teammates affectionately referred to him as Mumbles but there was no mistaking the expletive that Hawks great Melvin Thomas bellowed when he learned the club had paid him the ultimate tribute.
Thomas had been led to believe the angle for yesterday's photo-shoot with club legends Mat Campbell and Glen Saville was a reflection of the Wollongong's 2001 title-winning team.
But he was in for a shock - and his disbelieving reaction can't be printed in these pages.
Hawks chairman Peter Bahlmann stopped Thomas in his tracks when he told him the club wanted to retire his playing jersey.
The 45-year-old becomes the Hawks' fifth player to have his jersey retired; he joins Campbell, Saville, Gordie McLeod and Chuck Harmison.
His number 33 jersey will be raised to the rafters on Saturday when the Hawks host Townsville in their historic 1000th NBL game.
"I had no idea," Thomas said. "I should've known something was up when Cookie [Hawks assistant coach Eric Cooks] asked me to come down [from Sydney] just to take some pictures. I was like 'I hope they at least give me some gas' but this is a whole lot better.
"I'm kind of holding it back but I'm really touched."
A baggage handler with Qantas, Thomas will have to re-arrange his work schedule to make sure he is there to see his jersey raised to the roof.
"I definitely have to be there now. I'll definitely be calling in sick on Saturday," he said.
"This is where it all started for me. This is where I won my championship. The fact I left and came back, and they welcomed me with open arms. Wollongong will always be home for me."
Thomas said the Hawks defied the odds to be the NBL's last original club still standing.
"Just to be the only club that's still here from the beginning is incredible," he said.
"You had clubs that folded, some that came back and folded again. The fact the Hawks don't have a whole lot of resources and they're still able to be around for this amount of time, it's a miracle in itself."
Thomas formed arguably the Hawks' all-time greatest import combination with Doug Overton in the 1992 season.
Thomas spent four seasons with the Hawks while Overton went back to the US and played 11 seasons in the NBA.
After three more superb seasons with the Hawks, the 200cm-tall forward joined the Sydney Kings in 1995 then the Canberra Cannons, before he returned to Wollongong for the 1999-2000 season.
He averaged a team-high 18.8 points in the club's only championship-winning side in 2001 before he left in 2003 and wrapped up his career with Cairns Taipans.
Thomas played 235 games for the Hawks, scored 4905 points, grabbed 2317 rebounds, tallied 317 blocks and took 332 steals.
Thomas wore number 32 during his first stint with the Hawks.
When he returned in 1999, Campbell had made the number his own and Thomas chose 33.
Hawks officials believe the 1000th game will provide a fitting backdrop.
"The retirement of Melvin's singlet has been on the club's radar for some time," Bahlmann said.
"When you look at Melvin's career statistics with the Hawks, it was clear a unanimous decision by the board to retire number 33 would be reached.
"What better time to recognise such a legend on the court than our 1000th game in the NBL?"
Two-time Olympian Saville played 18 of his 19 NBL seasons with Wollongong and ranks Thomas at the top of the Hawks tree.
"He's probably our best ever player, for scoring and rebounding and just the way he played," he said.
"He was definitely the best Hawks player I played with.
"Being six-foot-six and playing that power forward position he was undersized but he had long arms, plenty of moves in the post and he was very athletic.
"His skill package and what he brought to the table for someone who was fairly undersized at the time was pretty impressive. He'd dominate our league now because it's a pretty small league."
Campbell was similarly effusive in his admiration for Thomas's abilities.
"The ultimate thing about Melvin was that he was consistent," Campbell said.
"He was awesome. He'd get between 15 and 25 points a game, he'd get between eight and 14 rebounds a game, so you knew what you were getting every night with Melvin."