Lucas reflects on impressive 400-game milestone

Geelong Venom's Chris Lucas added another accomplishment to his incredible resume this round by coaching his 400th WNBL game on Friday.

During the post-game press conference, after his side's fixture with Townsville at Geelong Arena, Lucas reflected on what the milestone meant to him.

"I've thought about it [the milestone] the last couple of days and I love what I do," Lucas said.

"I love the teams that I coach and my job is to get the best out of the team and I intend to do that here.

"Basketball's been really good to me personally and I've enjoyed every moment of it.

"From a national level to an international level, I've enjoyed every moment of it and still am.

"I love coming to work every day and without the support of my family, I wouldn't be able to do it."

Lucas' journey started as a 27-year-old by coaching his brother's domestic team.

From there, he began to assist with his club's senior program before becoming a senior coach in 1989, and four years later, Lucas made the move to West Adelaide Basketball Club to coach the senior women.

This laid the platform for Lucas to join the WNBL, a competition which he's been a part of for 18 seasons as a head coach.

This includes being with the Adelaide Lightning for nine seasons across two stints, Townsville Fire for five seasons, Melbourne Boomers for two seasons and Geelong for two years, including their inaugural 2024-25 season.

In 13 of those seasons, the team coached by Lucas has made the WNBL Finals, while he has reached the grand final series on five occasions, including winning back-to-back titles with Townsville in 2014-15 and 2015-16.

Lucas, who won the WNBL’s Coach of the Year Award in 2018-19, has also been involved in 14 different junior national programs and a part of eight major tournaments, including the 2004 Olympics and 2018 World Cup in Spain, where he won a silver medal with the Opals.

Lucas' Venom return to the hardwood on Tuesday night in the final game of Round 4, with Geelong hosting Perth from 7pm AEDT, live on ESPONN and 9Now.

Tickets to the fixture are still available here.