Basketball NSW Statement: NBL1 East Finals Player Eligibility

In response to the statement made by the Sydney Comets in relation to Basketball NSW's ruling regarding William Hickey.

William Hickey played in 5 games for the Sydney Comets during the current NBL1 East season. NBL1 East By-Laws stipulate that a player must participate (play or suit up) in a minimum of 40% of regular season games to be eligible for finals, which equates to 8 games. Basketball NSW confirms that as part of its decision-making process, we had to factor in that the Sydney Comets cleared Mr. Hickey to play for the Chicago Bulls in the NBA Summer League on the 24th June, 2025.

The Sydney Comets requested that we credit Mr. Hickey with missed games due to an earlier injury. However, under the competition By-Laws, a player must miss three consecutive games. Two of the games requested for credit (28th and 29th June) were after the date the Sydney Comets processed his international clearance (24th June), at which point Mr. Hickey was no longer eligible to play for the Sydney Comets in the NBL1 East.

Basketball NSW is not part of the process when international clearances are being processed.

Under FIBA Internal Regulations Book 3 Players and Officials, it states:

Rule 60: "A letter of clearance may not be issued to more than one National Federation at any one time."

Rule 106: "A player may not be licensed by more than one National Member Federation at the same time."

Basketball NSW abides by FIBA’s rules.