One of Australian basketball’s biggest young stars is poised for a shock late-season club switch to a championship contender as the Sydney Flames brace to finish the WNBL season without marquee player Shyla Heal and coach Shane Heal.
Multiple outlets on Tuesday night reported Shyla was set to join the Townsville Fire for the remainder of the season after a mutual parting of ways with the Flames, who’ve remained silent over an investigation into Shyla’s dad Shane.
The Herald Sun reported Shyla had flown to Perth on Tuesday expecting the WNBL to tick off her clearance to the Fire, which would allow her to line up in Townsville’s crunch clash with fellow top-four contender Perth Lynx on Wednesday night.
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For a player to be eligible for WNBL finals, they must have played at least one-third of the regular season for the same club. Townsville, which sits third on the competition ladder, still has seven games left in its 21-game season, meaning Shyla would be eligible for the Fire’s finals campaign if she suited up on Wednesday night then played in all of Townsville’s remaining regular season games.
In a curious post, Shyla on Tuesday shared an Instagram Story that read: “Some endings lead to better.”
The dramatic development comes amid the Flames’ investigation into Shane Heal, who’s been mysteriously absent, along with Shyla, from Sydney’s past three games. Both Shane and the Flames have opted not to comment on the nature of the probe.
“I’m sure, at some stage, that’ll come out but, right now, you know I can’t say anything,” Heal told News Corp’s The Basketball Show this week.
“I’m getting messages from journos all over the place. I can’t say anything, my hands are tied. At some stage I’ll be able to talk.”
The club released two tweets prior to the first two games without the Heal’s, announcing Shane was “unavailable to coach” and Shyla would miss “due to personal reasons”. Assistant coach Shelley Gorman — a WNBL legend and Olympic medallist with the Opals — was asked to take the reins for the first game with just over 24 hours’ notice.
Asked by The Basketball Show co-host Jo Healy if he was okay, Shane said this week: “I’m doing very well. Thank you for caring.”
Asked if Shyla was doing well, he added: “Shy’s doing well and hopefully you’ll see her soon too.”
A Boomers legend who represented Australia at four Olympic Games and captained the Sydney Kings to their inaugural NBL Championship in 2003, Shane Heal signed a three-year deal in March 2021 to be the new Flames head coach.
One month later, Shyla joined her dad at the Flames after a breakout campaign for the Townsville Fire in the 2020 WNBL hub season. It came after she was taken by the Chicago Sky with Pick 8 in the 2021 WNBA draft, only to be brutally cut after just four games.
Shyla, 21, is now widely regarded as one of the best point guards in Australia, highlighted by consistent selections in Opals squads over the past 12 months. She was recently named in the extended Opals 2023 squad alongside the likes of Cayla George, Tess Madgen and Ezi Magbegor.
Wednesday night’s Lynx-Fire WNBL clash will be broadcast on ESPN, which is available to watch through Kayo Sports.
