“They Raised The Standard Of Basketball In Singapore”: Actor & Ex Singapore Slingers Basketballer Chase Tan On The Impact The Team Had On The Sport Here

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If you have yet to hear, Singapore professional basketball team Singapore Slingers announced earlier today (Nov 20) that the ASEAN Basketball League (ABL) “is unlikely to play for the foreseeable future”.

Singapore Slingers are our country's first professional basketball club.

In 2009, the Slingers, along with six clubs from other ASEAN countries, including Malaysia and Thailand, came together to form the ABL. They played for nine consecutive seasons before the league’s suspension in 2019 due to the pandemic.

The ABL season finally restarted early this year, much to the joy of many basketball fans.

Unfortunately, their days of reuniting regional basketball were not made to last.​​

A statement from the Singapore Slingers read: “After 11 seasons and millions of dollars spent building a strong brand and lifting the standard of regional basketball, the ABL was informed by the FIBA that the league does not fit into FIBA’s future plans for basketball in the region. FIBA will be selective of which leagues it would support and allow moving forward. FIBA’s clear instructions to the regional basketball federations essentially denied the ABL a viable future."

FIBA stands for the International Basketball Federation, the world governing association for basketball.

The Singapore Slingers also added that they have “spent the past two years trying to find a compromise with FIBA without success”.

8days.sg reached out to local basketball player-turned-actor Chase Tan, 33, to find out his thoughts on the regrettable news.

Chase, who started playing the sport in secondary school, has played on Singapore’s national team, and was a member of the Singapore Slingers from 2010 to 2015.

He said: “I believe that just like me, many others regard the Singapore Slingers as the only professional team in Singapore and it is the dream and goal of many Singapore basketballers to play for the Slingers.”

“When Slingers first came to Singapore, they really set the foundation and raised the standard of the sport, so I definitely feel that it’s a pity for the organisation and league to end,” he continued.

Like many of us, Chase hopes the team will be able to work out something down the road “for the benefit of the future kids and players”.

As for their future plans, The Slingers are looking to work together with SportSG to “explore how it can continue to be a development platform for our top Singapore basketball players”.

Photos: Singapore Slingers/ Facebook, Chase Tan/ Instagram

Catch Chase in an episode of The Heartland Hero on meWATCH, or watch it below.