Keifer Sykes Signs with Indiana

South East Melbourne Phoenix star Keifer Sykes has signed with the Indiana Pacers, according to The Athletic.

He becomes the first South East Melbourne Phoenix player to sign with a NBA team after representing the Phoenix. Mitch Creek, Ryan Broekhoff and Ben Moore all played NBA prior to joining the Phoenix.

The athletic guard put together a brilliant NBL season in 2021, leading the team to its first finals appearance as starting point guard.

Sykes is a Chicago native and has been public with his NBA aspirations throughout his entire career.

“The NBA is my ultimate goal,” he said in the NBL21 pre-season.

“I’ve been going from different leagues to different leagues just to show how versatile I am and to see how well I can adapt to teams and test myself.

“I always want to be different, chase different goals, find different motivations, and like I said, with the NBA still being a goal for me, I see the trend of players coming here (Australia) then going to the NBA. I look at it like I’m giving myself another two or three years to have a shot at it.

“If everything goes back to normal next year, my stocks should be where I want it to be to give myself a chance.”

Sykes took to Instagram today to thank the Phoenix for their support in setting up his NBA opportunity.

“Thankyou to everyone from the Phoenix family, I will forever love South East Melbourne,” he commented.

The signing news capped off an unbelievable day for Sykes, who hit a game-winning three pointer to win ‘The Basketball Tournament’, an annual $1 million prize-pool competition in the U.S.

Phoenix Media (04/08/2021)