The Perth Wildcats are an Australian professional basketball team based in Perth, Western Australia. The Wildcats compete in the National Basketball League (NBL) and play their home games at RAC Arena, known colloquially as "The Jungle".
After three years of strong lobbying to the NBL, the creation of a national basketball team in Perth finally occurred in 1982. The Westate Wildcats were established and played out of the 800-seat Perry Lakes Basketball Stadium. Interest in basketball steadily grew throughout the community and in 1984 the Westate Wildcats became the Perth Wildcats. The Wildcats have gone on to become the highest-drawing and most successful team in the league, having won NBL championships in 1990, 1991, 1995, 2000, 2010, 2014, 2016, 2017, 2019 and 2020, placing the team four ahead of Melbourne United and the Sydney Kings, who have six championships each. They are also the only team in NBL history to win championships in four different decades. Between 1987 and 2021, the Wildcats made the post-season 35 straight years, an accomplishment matched by no other professional sports team in Australia.
The Wildcats in Perth The Wildcats are the city's only major professional basketball team and are one of Western Australia's major summer sport teams, along with the Perth Scorchers (cricket, Big Bash League), Western Warriors (cricket, Sheffield Shield), and Perth Glory (soccer, A-League). The public support for the Wildcats has been deemed remarkable, particularly the way fans have bought into the brand to create the "Red Army". The Wildcats' sturdy culture has long been built on a history of winning. In 2009, after being on the brink of bankruptcy, owner Jack Bendat and managing director Nick Marvin transformed the franchise, focusing on being family-friendly and engaging with children in Western Australia. Instead of doing 20 school visits per year, the Wildcats started doing 100. This increased to 200 school visits in 2010, and the year after it rose again to 220. As of 2019, the players had a 350-hour community engagement obligation, 200 hours above what the collective bargaining agreement requires. The pair introduced a zero-tolerance swearing policy and instructed players to always make eye contact and acknowledge supporters, with the philosophy being: the more engaged the Wildcats were with the West Australian community, the more fans they accumulated. As a result, they are the most successful franchise in NBL history during the 2010s. Marvin departed the club in 2017 while Bendat sold the club in 2021.
Since moving to Perth Arena in 2012, the Wildcats have consistently drawn some of the NBL's largest home crowds. They surpassed 10,000 members for the first time in 2017, and have repeatedly hit or exceeded the arena's 13,000-plus capacity. Notable attendance milestones include: 13,559 fans vs Adelaide in January 2015 13,611 on multiple occasions in 2017 and 2018, including Game 3 of the 2017 Grand Final A league-record 183,689 total home attendance during the 2017–18 regular season New capacity records of 13,615 in December 2021 and 13,661 in December 2025
Between 2012 and 2019, the team was forced on extended road trips for much of December due to Perth's annual hosting of the Hopman Cup at Perth Arena in early January. This tradition continued with the United Cup's introduction in 2022. As of the 2025–26 season, the arena is unavailable for Wildcats games between the middle of December and the middle of January.
When the Wildcats have won the NBL title, the team's victory celebration and ceremony has been held in the City of Perth at Forrest Place.
Franchise history
1982–1986: Early struggles
In 1979, the National Basketball League (NBL) in Australia was formed. It took another three years of lobbying by the Perth basketball community before a team in Western Australia became a reality. Formed in 1982 as the Westate Wildcats, the Wildcats became the first, and so far only, Western Australian team to compete in the NBL. The team's inaugural coach was Henry Daigle and the majority of the inaugural squad was made up of players from the East Perth Eagles, Stirling Senators and Perth Redbacks, led by captain Mike Ellis. They played out of Perry Lakes Basketball Stadium and finished the 1982 season in tenth place with a 10–16 win–loss record. Gordon Ellis took over as coach in 1983, as the team finished 13th with a 6–16 record.
In 1984, the team was renamed the Perth Wildcats, but success did not ensue under coach Lynn Massey as the team finished at the bottom of the ladder (16th) with only three wins. A fourth coach Jay Brehmer joined the team for the 1985 season. Brehmer along with imports Dan Clausen and Roland Brooks aimed to lead the Wildcats to a finals berth for the first time. However, they narrowly missed out on the post-season with a 13–13 record and an eighth-place finish. The Wildcats suffered a major setback in 1986 with the loss of Brooks, after he suffered a season-ending injury just 10 games into the season. Without their star import, the Wildcats struggled to remain competitive as they finished the season in 12th place with an 8–18 record.
In 1986, Perth businessman Bob Williams bought the Wildcats and began to reshape the team's destiny.
1987: First finals and grand final Many changes occurred in 1987. Most significantly, the team moved from the small confines of Perry Lakes Stadium to the Superdrome. The Superdrome was capable of housing 5,000 people, compared to the 800-seat Perry Lakes Stadium. Also in 1987, still captained by Mike Ellis, the Perth Wildcats introduced players to the roster that would become household names such as Kendal Pinder, James Crawford, Cal Bruton (player/coach), Alan Black, Eric Watterson and Trevor Torrance.
The new talent paid off immediately for the Wildcats as the team made the finals for the first time. In the first two stages of the finals, the Wildcats defeated the Canberra Cannons and minor premier Adelaide 36ers to suddenly find themselves in the Grand Final series against the Brisbane Bullets. The Wildcats were repeatedly referred to as the 'Cinderella' story as they entered the season having finished in third-last position in 1986, only to go on to make the Grand Final after finishing the 1987 regular season in fourth position with a 19–7 record. The 'run, stun and have some fun' style of play that had been implemented that season had worked wonders until the Grand Final series. The series was a promoter's dream: East Coast versus West; solid fundamentals versus "run and gun"; future Hall of Fame members on both sides on the floor; and two coaches who couldn't stand each other (Brian Kerle versus Cal Bruton). The Bullets defeated the Wildcats by just one point in front of a sell-out Perth crowd in Game 1 of the three-match series, before claiming the Championship in Brisbane in Game 2 a few days later.
1990–2000: First Championship era
1990: First Championship 1988 and 1989 both resulted in losses to the North Melbourne Giants in the Semi-finals. In 1990 West Australian businessman Kerry Stokes became co-owner of the franchise and decided to move the home court to the 8,000-seat Perth Entertainment Centre.
After retiring as a player following the 1989 season, Cal Bruton became the Wildcats' general manager in 1990. Eager for the team to win its first NBL Championship, Bruton embarked on an active recruiting campaign during the off-season; a recruiting campaign that saw the introduction of a player that is regularly referred to as the Wildcats' greatest: Ricky 'Amazing' Grace. Grace teamed-up with Mike Ellis to create a dominating backcourt. The 1990 season began with turmoil as coach Alan Black was controversially fired after only two games, and was replaced by Cal Bruton. Despite the shaky start to the season, the Wildcats recovered to finish in fifth place with a 17–9 record. Entering the finals as underdogs, the Wildcats swept the Melbourne Tigers in the Elimination Finals and got their revenge over the North Melbourne Giants with a 2–1 victory in the Semi-finals to again face the Brisbane Bullets in their second Grand Final appearance.
Tens of thousands of people across Western Australia tuned into the live coverage to watch the Wildcats triumph 112–106 in Game 1 of the Grand Final series in front of a sold-out Perth Entertainment Centre. Brisbane tied the series at 1–1 after winning Game 2 in convincing fashion at home, 106–90. In the deciding game also in Brisbane a few days later, the Wildcats blew the game wide open in the third quarter and were up by 20 points before the final term. They cruised to a 109–86 victory to claim their first NBL Championship. For his superb series, Grace was recognised as grand final MVP. Over the three games, Grace averaged 24.7 points per game.
1991: Back-to-back championships In controversial circumstances, Cal Bruton was not retained as coach despite leading the Wildcats to a championship in 1990. He was replaced by Murray Arnold, a former assistant coach with the Chicago Bulls. Arnold's style of game was focused on defence which was a significant change from the high scoring and entertaining style previously implemented under Bruton. In pursuit of back-to-back championships, the Wildcats strengthened their roster considerably in the off-season with the addition of future WA basketball legend Andrew Vlahov and Peter Hansen, an American who arrived via Venezuela, Spain and the Perry Lakes Hawks.
Arnold's Wildcats were a highly successful team, as they finished the regular season as minor premiers with a 22–4 record. After another successful regular season, the Wildcats entered the finals brimming with confidence. The Wildcats easily accounted for long-term rivals the Adelaide 36ers in the Semi-finals to then find themselves against the highly rated Eastside Spectres in the Grand Final. The Wildcats had a unique opportunity to win back-to-back titles, a feat only achieved by two other teams to that point in the history of the NBL. Everything looked on track when the Wildcats were able to defeat the Spectres in Game 1 in Melbourne by 26 points (109–83). Perth had hit fever pitch and another sold-out crowd awaited the Wildcats for Game 2 back at home. However, with their backs against the wall, the Spectres performed with a never-say-die attitude and upset the favourites at home by five points (86–81). Game 2 was played on a Friday night and Game 3 was scheduled for Sunday, leaving the Wildcats little time to formulate a new strategy. However, in front of an electric Perth crowd, the Wildcats were victorious in the deciding third game by 10 points (90–80) and became the third team in history to win back-to-back NBL Championships. Hansen was named MVP of the Grand Final series after averaging 17.3 points per game over the three games.
Just as Mike Ellis had hoped, he and the likes of Pinder, Crawford, Grace and Vlahov found themselves in the midst of a Perth Wildcats dynasty.
1993: Fourth Grand Final in seven years After a down year in 1992 produced a quarter-final loss, three major personnel changes occurred heading into the 1993 season. Club legend and captain Mike Ellis retired after 12 seasons, Dr Adrian Hurley was appointed as the new head coach replacing Murray Arnold, and finally the Wildcats enticed two-time league MVP Scott Fisher to the team.