Phoenix star "questionable" for season-opener

The South East Melbourne Phoenix might be without one of their stars for Saturday's season-opener against Perth at RAC Arena.

Australian Boomer Nathan Sobey, who was selected in the Hungry Jack's NBL26 All-First Team, is officially questionable to play in the club's Round 1 clash, due to a back complaint.

During an interview with Andrew Gaze and Andy Maher on SEN's The Run Home, Phoenix coach Josh King explained the side are sweating on the fitness of their star guard.

"I will confirm that Sobey is going to be questionable [for Saturday]," King said on SEN.

"It's nothing too serious, but it's it's a long trip out there [to Perth] and we've got a lot of games coming up.

"There's strategy involved with everything, so let's see how we go."

King knows how big of a blow not having his skipper, who averaged a career-high 22.5 points last season, would be for his side.

But in the same vein, he's confident in his squad's depth.

"When we're at our highest level, Sobey is a big part of our plans," he said.

"He's an amazing player. He's coming out of an MVP-like season last year.

"But the good thing is we have a lot of really good basketball players on our team by design, that have been working really hard.

"If he can play it for us it'll be great on Saturday night, and if he can't play, it's just another opportunity for somebody else to play more minutes and get a bigger role.

"[Regardless] I'm super confident in the players that we will have out there."

Saturday's blockbuster at RAC Arena tips off at 9.30pm AEST, live on ESPN, 9Go! and 9Now. It will also be live on 9 in Perth.