Isaac Humphries is done playing basketball. The Adelaide 36ers center announced his retirement on Instagram on Oct. 20, at 28, because of a degenerative knee injury.
“I’m so sad to say goodbye like this,” he wrote. “Sometimes life deals you cards that tell your story for you.”
He said his knee had troubled him for about two years. It got unmanageable at the start of preseason, and several doctors told him it wouldn’t hold up anymore, Basketball.com.au reported. He hadn’t played in any of Adelaide’s games this NBL season.
“I’m young, just played the best season of my career, and unfortunately, I have to retire,” Humphries said. He called it an “incredibly sad, very hard decision, but one that was almost made sort of for me.”
Isaac Humphries Came Out as Gay in 2022
Humphries came out as gay in 2022, while he was playing for Melbourne United. At the time, he was widely reported to be the only openly gay man playing in a top-tier professional basketball league. He’s also talked openly about his mental health, and he’s been a suicide prevention ambassador.
“I changed history, and I was a captain last year,” he said when announcing his retirement.
Adelaide chairman Grant Kelley said he’d “long admired Isaac’s personal and professional courage,” and that “Isaac has used his platform to advocate strongly for LGBTQI+ rights,” AAP reported. Humphries pushed for the NBL’s Pride Round. In January, when retired basketballer Andrew Ogilvy came out as gay, Humphries backed him publicly.
Isaac Humphries’ Career by the Numbers
Humphries is 6-foot-11 and from Sydney. He played college ball in the U.S. and spent time in the NBA with the Atlanta Hawks and the Orlando Magic organization. Back home he won NBL Rookie of the Year in 2018 with the Sydney Kings. He went on to play for Melbourne United and Adelaide.
He played 173 NBL games, 124 of them for Adelaide, averaging 11.6 points and 5.5 rebounds. He was Adelaide’s club MVP in 2024 and its captain last season, when the 36ers made the championship series.
He’s not leaving entirely. Humphries is moving into a job with the 36ers’ community, marketing and commercial teams.
“I hope the identity I created lives on in every person who wears my jersey,” he wrote. “It’s not exactly a goodbye but maybe an until I see you soon. So for now, and from your number 8, thank you.”
More from Gayety: LGBTQ+ sports coverage.
