[4][5] They subsequently competed in the "Singapore Challenge Series", where they played against a range of teams from the Philippines, China, Indonesia, Malaysia, India and Australia.

The Cannons failed to make the playoffs over the next few seasons but won their first NBL championship in 1983 where they downed the defending champion West Adelaide Bearcats 75–73 in the Grand Final.

Canberra made the playoffs for the next three seasons but would fall to the Bullets in the semi-final each time, though Bob Turner did win the club's first NBL Coach of the Year Award in 1985.

The club's greatest player Phil Smyth left the team after 10 seasons and returned home to join the Adelaide 36ers from 1993 and the Cannons would not reach the playoffs again until 1996, making the semi-finals before being eliminated by the Melbourne Tigers 2–1.

Pirates snap NBL losing streak It was revealed on NBN News that, in an effort to remain in the competition, the club had considered turning itself into a non-profit organisation, thereby able to access various grants.

The re-branding of the club was the brainchild of NBL stalwart and former Canberra dual-championship winning coach Bob Turner who took over as the Slingers' CEO after the handover.

In July 2008, following their second season in the NBL, the Slingers withdrew from the league due to the dramatic increase in international travel costs.

The Slingers determined that the future focus of the team needed to be on participating in competitions within its local region in Asia rather than weekly games in Australia and New Zealand.

[8][9] Following their exit from the NBL, the Slingers organised and took part in the Singapore Challenge Series, a round of friendly matches played at the Singapore Indoor Stadium against a number of Pan-Asia Pacific basketball clubs such as Indonesian Basketball League champions Satria Muda Britama,[10] the Darwin All-Stars, a team made up of a majority of professional players originating from Darwin as well as Air21 Express from the PBA.

The other five teams were the Brunei Barracudas, the Kuala Lumpur Dragons, the Philippine Patriots, Satria Muda BritAma from Indonesia and the Thailand Tigers.

[12] As part of their pre-season training for the ABL, the Slingers organised a second edition of the Singapore Challenge in September 2009, choosing to play four single-match games against PBA sides Coca-Cola Tigers, Ginebra Kings and San Miguel Beermen, as well as Smart Gilas Pilipinas, the national basketball team of the Philippines.

Kyle Jeffers also collected a record 20 rebounds in the same game while Hong Wei Jian wowed the crowd with two dunks in the 4th quarter.

The 2010–10 season also saw local star Hong Wei Jian retiring from professional basketball after tearing his anterior cruciate ligament and fracturing his knee.

The formulative years of the ABL saw local players such as Wong Wei Long, Desmond Oh and Lim Shengyu rising to prominence.

[18] Adams impressed the crowd with a game-high 21 points in the Slingers' season opening game against new entrant Laskar Dreya South Sumatra at the OCBC Arena but struggled with his fitness and health and played sparingly after that.

[19] The Slingers played their following game against the Westports Malaysia Dragons without a replacement for Adams in the foreign import slot and fell to a 59–85 defeat at the MABA Stadium in Kuala Lumpur.

[20] On 19 August 2014, the Slingers announced that they had signed former Saigon Heat and Barangay Ginebra San Miguel forward Dior Lowhorn to fill up the empty world import slot.

[23] Team captain Kyle Jeffers was injured in the same match when he fell awkwardly while competing for a rebound in the third quarter and had to be stretchered off.

The Slingers subsequently announced on 9 September 2014 that Jeffers had been placed on the injured reserve list while former Saigon Heat centre Justin Howard had been brought in as a replacement.

Prior to signing for the Slingers, Howard played two games in August 2014 for the Indonesia Warriors as a temporary replacement for the injured Chris Ellis.

[24] A 79–65 victory over the Saigon Heat in Singapore on 1 October 2014 saw the Slingers inch closer to a playoff berth with Howard putting in a big performance, finishing with 24 points and 20 rebounds.