A highly emotional Sydney Spirit skipper Jason Smith has called on basketball fans in the Harbour City to vote with their feet for the remainder of the season if the club survives the most important week of its short history.
The newly named franchise was thrown in to disarray on Wednesday when the NBL issued the club's elusive owner Greg Evans with a default notice.
Despite the threat of extinction looming large, Rob Beveridge's young side showed resolve beyond their years on Saturday night toppling league leaders the South Dragons in a thrilling encounter at the Sydney Olympic Park Sports Centre.
Speaking after the match, an emotionally spent Smith urged supporters of the game not to sit on their hands and risk losing the city's only remaining team.
"To the people out there that are coming to the games you're going to see a good product but if you don't come this thing might be over," Smith said.
"It's too late to consider options later on so you've got to be active now."
Smith, who led the Sydney Kings all the way to the grand-final series last season, called for basketball lovers to discard old loyalties and form a united front.
"Honestly I'm sick of it, I really am," Smith said of the division that still exists between traditional Kings and West Sydney Razorbacks fans.
"All the time I'm getting phone calls about this group and that group, I don't care, I'm a basketball player and I'm here to play basketball and if people want to see good basketball they'll come and watch us."
"It's the only product they've got so we're appealing to basketball fans."
Asked if there are enough supporters to warrant a Sydney based team Smith said without hesitation: "They're there because to have 10,000 people at (game-five of the) grand final (series last season), not all of them were Kings fans, they were basketball fans."
"So they're the fans that we want, we want basketball fans, not necessarily Spirit or Kings or whatever."
"If they like basketball and they like good players and they like an exciting brand of basketball then we've got what you want, we really do, and that's evident from tonight's game."
Coach Beveridge echoed his skipper's strong sentiments saying the game must come first.
"Just like Souths Sydney in the rugby league, people jumped on board when it's dire straits and sooner or later - and right now we're in dire straits - if people don't support us there won't be basketball (in Sydney)," Beveridge said.
"People talk about the Kings coming back and I'm sick to death of that as well, it's about basketball in Sydney so all those people out there, stop all this crap and come and support basketball."
"It's really important now because people have seen the product and I'm hoping that they'll be back next time we're at home and hopefully we're here, but this week's big time for us."