Isaac Humphries has played his last game. The Adelaide 36ers centre, who made global headlines in 2022 when he came out as gay, announced his retirement on October 20 at just 28, citing a degenerative knee injury.
“I’m so sad to say goodbye like this,” he wrote on social media, AAP reports via The Canberra Times.
The knee that wouldn’t hold
Humphries told Basketball.com.au the chronic knee injury had been going on for “a couple of years.” It became unmanageable at the start of pre-season, the club shut him down, and he went looking for other medical opinions. The verdict: the knee “won’t hold up to play basketball anymore.”
He called it an “incredibly sad, very hard decision, but one that was almost made sort of for me.” And the timing stings: “I’m young, just played the best season of my career, and unfortunately, I have to retire.”
He leaves without playing a game in the current NBL season.
A career worth celebrating
The Sydney-born, 2.11-metre centre packed a lot into under a decade, per Basketball.com.au and AAP:
- NBL Rookie of the Year in 2018 with the Sydney Kings
- An NBA stint, including time with the Atlanta Hawks
- 173 NBL games across eight seasons with Adelaide, Melbourne United and the Sydney Kings, averaging 11.6 points, 5.5 rebounds and 1.5 blocks
- 36ers club MVP in 2024, then club captain, and part of the team that reached last season’s championship series
The moment that made him more than a player
In 2022, while playing for Melbourne United, Humphries came out publicly. AAP described him at the time as the world’s only openly gay professional basketballer.
What came after mattered just as much. He has spoken openly about struggling with his sexuality and his mental health, and about surviving a suicide attempt, AAP notes. He became a mental health and suicide prevention ambassador and has championed the NBL’s Pride Round, according to InDaily.
And he didn’t pull the ladder up behind him. In January, when retired Australian basketballer Andrew Ogilvy also came out as gay, Humphries was there to support him.
For a generation of queer kids who play sport and wonder whether there’s room for them at the top level, that visibility is the legacy. Not one brave press release, but four years of showing up as himself, on court and off it, while playing some of the best basketball of his life.
Not quite goodbye
Here’s the good news: Humphries isn’t leaving the club. He’s moving into a new role with Adelaide, working with its community, marketing and commercial teams, InDaily reports.
36ers chairman Grant Kelley called him an “outstanding ambassador” and said he has “long admired Isaac’s personal and professional courage,” praising how Humphries used his platform for LGBTQI+ rights and mental health awareness. The club’s own farewell called his career “nothing short of incredible.”
Humphries put it best in his own post: “I gave so much of my life to this sport and it gave me a life I could never have imagined right back.” And then: “It’s not exactly a goodbye but maybe an until I see you soon.”
He signed off the way any 36ers fan would recognise: “from your number 8, thank you.”
If you’re in Australia and struggling, you can call Lifeline on 13 11 14, any time.
