Cheshire Phoenix have suffered a severe injury blow ahead of tonight's trip to BBL leaders Newcastle Eagles (7.30pm).
Point guard Josh Wilcher has been ruled out for the rest of the season with a broken foot.
A Nix statement reads: "We anticipated that Josh would have been back on court over the next couple of weeks. However, after a number of scans it transpires the injury is much worse than we originally thought.
"We would like to thank Josh for all his effort, commitment and professionalism during his time with the Phoenix and very much hope to see him fit and healthy in the near future."
Aussie Wilcher, who needs only 11 more points to reach 1,000 in BBL Championship play, said: "I want to thank the Cheshire Phoenix club, fans and everyone who helped out in welcoming me this season.
"It has been a pleasure to represent #NIXNATION and to get to know some great people along the way.
"This injury is really unfortunate and upsetting for me but I absolutely wish the best to the team for the rest of the season. Go Nix!"
Cheshire are expected to announce the name of their new coach after this weekend's double-header, which gets under way this evening against the Eagles.
The Nix will go into their first game of 2017 on the back of a superb victory at Glasgow Rocks in front of the BBC Sport cameras.
And forward Raheem May-Thompson said: "With a win like that against a talented team such as Glasgow we've found new life. We know we have enough talent to beat any team in this league and that win just validated it for us all.
"We know we can play better basketball and use that win to build upon especially with Newcastle up next."
