Melbourne United: Five things you need to know

• United have six NBL championships, behind only Perth and level with Sydney
• They finished NBL26 eighth at 13-20 and missed the finals
• Jacob Chance, 32, has replaced Dean Vickerman as the NBL's youngest head coach

Six NBL championships, a play-in exit, and the youngest coach in the league. Melbourne United, explained.

Melbourne has been in the NBL since 1984, first as the Tigers and since 2014 as United, and only the Perth Wildcats have won more championships. NBL26 was the first season since 2023 that did not end in a grand final, and it was Dean Vickerman's last. The man replacing him is younger than two of the players he inherits.

NBL26 SEASON SUMMARY

• Record: 20-13, finished 5th
• Play-in: beat Tasmania 82-68, lost to Perth 77-95
• Head coach: Dean Vickerman
• Captain: Chris Goulding
• Club MVP: Jesse Edwards

Two grand finals in two years, then a season that stopped a round into the finals. United won their play-in qualifier against Tasmania and lost the next one to Perth, and the run of consecutive grand final appearances ended at two.

THE COACHING CHANGE

Vickerman left after nine seasons and two championships, agreeing an early buyout of a contract that ran to 2028, and went to Japan to coach Nagasaki Velca in the club's first B.League season.

His replacement is Jacob Chance, on a four-year deal. Chance is 32, which makes him the youngest head coach in the NBL and younger than both of United's marquee players: Joe Ingles is 38, Chris Goulding 37. He was 12 years old when Ingles made his NBL debut.

It is a return rather than an arrival. Chance was Vickerman's assistant at United between 2023 and 2025, and before that spent two seasons as Tasmania's associate head coach. He left in 2025 to become head coach of the Austin Spurs, San Antonio's G League affiliate, replacing a Coach of the Year who had been promoted to the NBA bench.

"Jacob brings him with the right understanding of where this club has been and what's been built, while also knowing that continual improvement and evolution are important in where the club is going," Goulding said.

NBL27: WHAT UNITED HAVE BUILT

Chance told NBL commentator Brad Rosen in June that his roster needed two perimeter players and a centre, and that the centre had to "really anchor our defence and hold down that five spot".

Josh Oduro is that signing, United's first import for NBL27. The 206cm forward-centre spent last season on a two-way contract with the New Orleans Pelicans, playing three NBA games and starting one, with most of the previous two seasons at the Pelicans' G League affiliate in Birmingham. Across 87 games there he averaged 13.4 points and 7.9 rebounds.

Goulding remains captain. Joe Ingles is at the club. Jesse Edwards, the NBL26 club MVP, has moved on.

THE CLUB

• Home: John Cain Arena, Melbourne
• Founded: 1984, as the Melbourne Tigers
• Renamed: Melbourne United in 2014, after 31 seasons as the Tigers
• Head coach: Jacob Chance
• Captain: Chris Goulding
• CEO: Nick Truelson. General manager: Mark Boyd

Across 42 seasons United have played 1,212 regular season games for 684 wins and 528 losses, with a finals record of 75-64 from 139 games. They have reached the finals 30 times, won seven regular season championships, and won six titles from 13 grand finals.

TEAM HISTORY

The Tigers came into the NBL in 1984 out of the SEABL, where they had won the 1983 title, and they were poor for five years. Lindsay Gaze coached and his son Andrew played, and in 1987 Andrew averaged 44.1 points a game, still the NBL record, including a 60-point game against Newcastle. The team finished that season 3-23.

The additions changed it. Dave Simmons and David Colbert arrived in 1989 and the Tigers made their first finals. Lanard Copeland joined in 1992 and they reached their first grand final, losing to the South East Melbourne Magic. Mark Bradtke came in 1993, and the Tigers beat Perth for the championship in a deciding game in Perth, the first for both Gazes.

They lost the 1996 grand final to the Magic again, then beat them in 1997 after finishing the season on a 17-1 run that included a record 16-game winning streak.

The Gaze era ended in 2005, with Lindsay retiring as coach, Andrew retiring as a player, and Bradtke and Copeland both departing. By then Andrew had seven MVP awards.

What followed was immediate rather than a rebuild. Chris Anstey won the MVP in 2006 and the Tigers took the championship, sweeping Sydney 3-0. They reached four straight grand finals from 2006 to 2009 and won two, beating Sydney again in a deciding game in 2008.

Then the hardest stretch. In 2009 the club briefly decided to sit out a season after losing money, before reversing it. In 2014 the franchise was rebranded Melbourne United to reflect all of Victorian basketball, a change that was not universally welcomed.

Under Dean Vickerman, appointed in 2017, United won the 2018 championship in a deciding game against Adelaide, with Goulding named grand final MVP, and the 2021 championship behind Jock Landale. They lost the 2024 grand final to Tasmania and the 2025 grand final to Illawarra, both in deciding games, before NBL26 ended in the play-in.

CLUB LEGENDS

Andrew Gaze is the club's and the league's defining figure. He was Rookie of the Year in 1984, won seven NBL Most Valuable Player awards between 1991 and 1998, made 15 All-NBL First Teams, and holds the single-season scoring record at 44.1 points a game. His 10 is retired.

Lanard Copeland arrived in 1992, was grand final MVP in the 1997 championship, and stayed until 2005. His 21 is retired.

Mark Bradtke joined in 1993, won the 2002 MVP, made ten All-NBL First Teams and played until 2005. His 50 is retired.

Chris Anstey won the MVP in 2006 and 2008, was grand final MVP in both of those championship seasons, and later coached the club.

Chris Goulding is the longest-serving figure of the modern era, captain, grand final MVP in 2018, and a three-time All-NBL First Team selection.

Dave Simmons, Warrick Giddey and Ray Gordon complete the retired numbers at 25, 6 and 8. Jock Landale was grand final MVP in the 2021 championship.

HONOUR ROLL

• Championships: six, in 1993, 1997, 2006, 2008, 2018 and 2021
• Grand final appearances: 13, in 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2018, 2019, 2021, 2024 and 2025
• Finals appearances: 30
• Regular season championships: seven, in 1994, 1996, 2016, 2018, 2021, 2022 and 2024
• NBL Most Valuable Player: Andrew Gaze (1991, 1992, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998), Mark Bradtke (2002), Chris Anstey (2006, 2008)
• NBL Grand Final MVP: Lanard Copeland (1997), Chris Anstey (2006, 2008), Chris Goulding (2018), Jock Landale (2021)
• NBL Coach of the Year: Lindsay Gaze (1989, 1997, 1999), Al Westover (2006), Dean Vickerman (2018, 2019, 2024)
• NBL Rookie of the Year: Andrew Gaze (1984)
• NBL Best Defensive Player: Chris Anstey (2008), Shea Ili (2024, 2025)
• Retired numbers: Warrick Giddey (6), Ray Gordon (8), Andrew Gaze (10), Lanard Copeland (21), Dave Simmons (25), Mark Bradtke (50)

THE MODERN ERA, SEASON BY SEASON

• 2019-20 4th 15-13 Dean Vickerman, lost the semi-final series to Sydney
• 2020-21 1st 28-8 Dean Vickerman, NBL CHAMPIONS
• 2021-22 1st 20-8 Dean Vickerman, lost the semi-final series to Tasmania
• 2022-23 7th 15-13 Dean Vickerman, did not qualify
• 2023-24 1st 20-8 Dean Vickerman, lost the Championship Series 2-3 to Tasmania
• 2024-25 2nd 19-10 Dean Vickerman, lost the Championship Series 2-3 to Illawarra
• 2025-26 5th 20-13 Dean Vickerman, lost in the play-in

Four regular season championships in seven years and two grand finals lost in deciding games. United have been close more often than almost anyone and have not won since 2021.

FIVE FAST FACTS

1. Andrew Gaze averaged 44.1 points a game in 1987, still the NBL single-season record, in a team that won three games all year.

2. Melbourne has six championships, level with the Sydney Kings and behind only the Perth Wildcats.

3. The club spent 31 seasons as the Melbourne Tigers before the rebrand to Melbourne United in 2014.

4. Jacob Chance is the youngest head coach in the NBL, and younger than both Joe Ingles and Chris Goulding.

5. United have retired six numbers: Warrick Giddey (6), Ray Gordon (8), Andrew Gaze (10), Lanard Copeland (21), Dave Simmons (25) and Mark Bradtke (50).

CLUB TIMELINE

• 1984: Entered the NBL as the Melbourne Tigers, coached by Lindsay Gaze, with Andrew Gaze Rookie of the Year.
• 1987: Andrew Gaze averaged 44.1 points a game, still the NBL record.
• 1992: Lanard Copeland joined and the Tigers reached their first grand final, losing to South East Melbourne.
• 1993: Mark Bradtke arrived and the Tigers won their first championship, beating Perth.
• 1996: Lost the grand final to the Magic again.
• 1997: Beat the Magic for a second championship after a record 16-game winning streak.
• 2005: Lindsay and Andrew Gaze both retired, along with the departures of Bradtke and Copeland.
• 2006: Chris Anstey won the MVP and the Tigers swept Sydney for a third championship.
• 2008: Beat Sydney in a deciding game for a fourth championship, the second in three seasons.
• 2014: Rebranded as Melbourne United after 31 seasons as the Tigers.
• 2018: First championship under the new name, Chris Goulding the grand final MVP.
• 2021: Sixth championship, Jock Landale the grand final MVP.
• 2024 and 2025: Lost consecutive grand finals, to Tasmania and Illawarra, both in deciding games.
• 2026: Finished fifth at 20-13 and went out in the play-in. Dean Vickerman left for Japan.

WHAT NBL27 LOOKS LIKE

Chance inherits a club that has been to five grand finals in nine seasons and won two of them, and which has now had one year of falling short earlier than usual. The roster keeps Goulding and Ingles, adds Oduro at centre, and loses the man who was its best player last season.

The interesting part is the appointment itself. United have handed a four-year deal to a 32-year-old who left the building two years ago as an assistant and came back having run an NBA development program. Whether that is bold or overdue is the question NBL27 will answer.