CODE Sports<\/a>, it is claimed Wells approached Vasiljevic over comments he made on ESPN\u2019s Nothing But Net, following a controversial technical foul against the South East Melbourne Phoenix. The incident came despite Adelaide leading by 17 points at the time, with six-time MVP Bryce Cotton appearing visibly frustrated on the sideline.<\/p>\nCooks: KD is taking it personally | 01:02<\/p>\n
\u201cWe talked about it before the game we need to stay off the refs. We don\u2019t need that from Mike Wells,\u201d Vasiljevic said on ESPN\u2019s Nothing But Net.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe were up at the time and he keeps yapping to (veteran referee) Michael Aylen. That\u2019s not the guy to be talking to. As soon as you say something wrong or something that\u2019s going to threaten him, he\u2019s going to T you up.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve just got to hold each other to a higher standard and Mike knows that.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s just got to chill out and allow the game to keep going and we can ride the momentum.\u201d<\/p>\n
The blunt and honest comments from Vasiljevic, who wears his heart on his sleeve, reportedly did not sit well with Wells. According to CODE Sports, sources say the exchange between the pair in the foyer of the Novotel in Olympic Park was not \u201camicable\u201d, with the coach expressing disappointment over Vasiljevic\u2019s public remarks.<\/p>\n
The report also suggested issues between players and Wells had existed over the past two seasons.<\/p>\n
Respected NBL commentator and media personality Felix Von Hofe said Vasiljevic\u2019s comments were another example of Wells being \u201cdisrespected\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou cannot be talking down on your head coach to media during a finals campaign, I love how open and honest DJ is at all times. It\u2019s great for the sport\u2026. But Mike Wells is well within his right to call fault and take issue with that,\u201d Von Hofe told foxsports.com.au.<\/p>\n
\u201cMike continues his run as the most disrespected coach in the league\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWells has had to cop it from all angles this year, the last thing you need is your own playing group talking negatively to the media\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s an experienced coach, his adjustments in the semi final series against SEM were fantastic, they beat a better team\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI have no doubt they\u2019ll adjust in game 2 and we\u2019ll see a much closer contest.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dejan Vasiljevic.Source: Getty ImagesSYDNEY, AUSTRALIA – MARCH 21: Mike Wells, Head Coach of the Adeliade 36ers looks on during game one of the NBL Grand Final series between Sydney Kings and Adelaide 36ers at Qudos Bank Arena, on March 21, 2026, in Sydney, Australia. (Photo by Darrian Traynor\/Getty Images)Source: Getty Images<\/p>\n
Game Two of the NBL Finals looms as a key test, with plenty of attention on whether the off-court tension between a head coach and one of his star players carries into team chemistry. It shapes as a must-win for one of the league\u2019s most potent offensive sides.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Drama has engulfed the Adelaide 36ers heading into Game Two of the NBL grand final series amid reports…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":562461,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[574],"tags":[64,63,726,85],"class_list":["post-562460","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-basketball","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-basketball","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/562460","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=562460"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/562460\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/562461"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=562460"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=562460"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=562460"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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