'Fell into a depression': 36er's dark moments after championship loss

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Adelaide 36ers star Zylan Cheatham has revealed he fell into depression after falling agonisingly short of winning an NBL title in last season's championship series with the Sydney Kings where the franchise were within seconds of a drought-breaking trophy.

Cheatham, who signed a two-year extension with the 36ers during last season, opened up about the dark places the loss sent him to during the offseason and how he plans to use those memories to lead Adelaide back to the promised land in NBL27.

Speaking on Episode 44 of the Cut to the Jase podcast with NBL legend Jason Cadee, the 30-year-old said the pain of last season's experience hit him harder than he thought.

"I mean, it definitely had an impact on me that I wasn't aware of, honestly," Cheatham said on the basketball.com.au podcast.

"You lose in the fashion that you lose, you put everything into the season, you plan to win that game and it just kind of abruptly ends.

"While I was still in Adelaide, it didn't really, you know, you feel it, but it didn't really hit me until I actually got back home to America and I kind of just fell into like a two week depression and kind of like something I had never really experienced, to be honest.

"It definitely has some impact on my offseason because I'm usually, you know, getting back to work or I'm usually enjoying myself, letting my hair down before I get back to work.

"(But) I spent that time in kind of depression."

Always knowing he was returning to the City of Churches after signing a new two-year deal, Cheatham said the 36ers needed to be focused on the process in NBL27, even though the memories of last season's loss will always be in the back of their minds.

"I get back to Adelaide with a very similar team with a new coach (Trevor Gleeson), a couple of new pieces but with that (loss) looming in the dark, I feel like it's important for us to not just let that be that thing that's just sitting there like 'oh we just have to get back to the championship, we have to get back there'.

"When you look too far ahead, I feel like you start skipping steps in the process and that's what we do not want to do."

Cheatham feels at home in Adelaide and after just a one-season stint previously in the NBL with the New Zealand Breakers in NBL24 and moving around throughout his career - from college to Europe as well as the NBA and G-League and then Japan - the 6'8" former Utah Jazz forward said he re-signed in Adelaide because he wanted to leave a legacy.

"You reach that point in your career at 30, you know, I feel like I have more years behind than in front," Cheatham said.

"So it's like, you got to start making those decisions for, I want to stick somewhere. I want to get somewhere where I can build my legacy.

"I mean, even going back to college, I bounced around, I was at San Diego State for a couple years and transferred. I never really got to set a legacy and be in the same place for an extended period of time, and that's always something that's been on my mind.

"So it didn't hurt that we made the run and had the success that we did last year and I mean, Matt (Weston), (Grant Kelley), pretty much everybody was on the same page with it and I just pulled the trigger, man.

"It felt right."

Cheatham said a talk from 36ers legend in 'The Chairman of the Boards' Mark Davis in the preseason inspired his desire to leave a legacy at the franchise even more.

The 36ers host former teammate DJ Vasiljevic and the New Zealand Breakers at the Adelaide Entertainment Centre at 5pm tomorow.