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ADELAIDE Lightning, a 22-year-old iconic brand of the WNBL and five-time champion, may play its farewell game in Whyalla on February 13, though Basketball Australia remains confident it will survive.

Vince Marino, who in 2007 bought the WNBL club during the State Government's "fire sale" of the now-defunct Basketball Association of SA's assets, tonight informed his team he was relinquishing ownership at the end of the 2014-15 season.

Earlier he met with Basketball SA chief executive Mark Hubbard to discuss the club's future, Hubbard also in regular contact with BA CEO Anthony Moore regarding the direction for Adelaide's WNBL program.

As required by the WNBL License Agreement, Marino informed the WNBL and BA in July of his intention to step aside as owner.

While he remained upbeat and poitive today, his annual $500,000 investment over the past eight years and lack of support from the SA corporate sector clearly still was a point of discord.

"The economic situation just made it too difficult to continue," he said.

"We did our best for South Australia and for women's basketball."

Marino is known to privately be disappointed some sections of the local basketball community could not separate his time as owner from his daughter Angela's playing involvement in the team, ignoring his ongoing commitment to maintaining a WNBL presence in the state.

LAST GAME: Adelaide Lightning's last match will be against Dandenong in Whyalla.

"The priority is to have a South Australian WNBL team," BSA's Hubbard said.

"We're already looking at our options."

One of Marino's persistent bug-bears was the lack of support Adelaide Lightning received from within the basketball community, particularly with issues such as exorbitant venue-hire charges, avoidable event clashes and game-day support.

He said he greatly appreciated the work done by his coaches, players and volunteers over the years.

BA boss Moore reiterated it was "critically important" for South Australia to have a pathway to the elite WNBL for its abundant juniors and said work already was underway to find a suitable, sustainable model for an SA team.

Adelaide Lightning's three-peat championship unit of 1994-95-96 was the first team inducted into the South Australian Sporting Hall of Fame, an extraordinary, rare and justified accolade.

At the height of Marino's ownership run, it won the 2008 WNBL Championship.

Again this season, he helped assemble an excellent playing list - on paper - but it has struggled to make any on-court impression, some even suggesting the mercenary nature of a few of the personnel leaving a lot to be desired.

On several occasions, the commitment to success has been underwhelming, which has had to have been additionally debilitating for the man paying wages.

Adelaide is away to Dandenong on Friday, with its last game at Adelaide Arena against Sydney Flames on February 6.

Its last actual home game will be a week later against Dandenong in Marino's home town of Whyalla.

HOW we reported it today at News Corp: http://bit.ly/1J6KR5y