Former Bears legend Alan Cunningham has told Brighton's depressed fans to be patient and wait for the good times to roll again.

The hugely popular former Harlem Globetrotter returned to Worthing with Solent Stars for a highly charged NBL play-off against Thunder on Saturday night.

Many of his admirers from Worthing Bears days will be heading to Bracknell to see rock bottom Brighton complete their BBL campaign at old rivals Thames Valley.

Cunningham was a part of the original Brighton Bears in the early Eigthies and returned from a glorious spell at Portsmouth to play and coach for the Sussex side as they won three successive championships.

He said: "Of course I still follow the Bears. I follow the league period.

"Sometimes the people in the stands don't understand when you are re-building.

"Making that transition back from Worthing to Brighton is a hard thing to do.

"When we won everything with Worthing we had very good Americans but we also had the cream of the home talent and that helps.

"Maybe they have to act on that if they want to compete."

He added with a laugh: "We also had a damn good coach around that time."

Cunningham's name has been among those debated by disgruntled fans as a potential new coach for Bears next season.

But the man himself, one of three co-owners at Solent, ruled out that possibility.

He said: "Nobody has spoken to me but I'm working 24-seven as it is. Never say never, but I have not been approached and I certainly would not call them.

"I wish them well because the club has always had a place in my heart but sometimes you cannot go back."

Cunningham and former Bears sidekick Colin Irish are currently working for the Fun Schools Challenge project, promoting physical fitness in schools and raising money for charity.

Turning out for Solent provides a bit of fun at the end of the working week.

He certainly had fun last Sunday, scoring 19 points as Stars won 111-96 at Worthing in the final game of the regular season.

Now 46, he has officially retired twice and says running up and down the court keeps him fit.

He added: "I'm realistic. I just try and enjoy myself and leave it at that.

"Some people go golfing and some go to the gym. I just run up and down the court once a week.

"We are not fooling ourselves about the play-off. Worthing are a better squad than us and it's hard to repeat on a team when you have just caught them by surprise the first time."

That theme was developed by Thunder coach Gary Smith, who saw his side clinch second spot by beating Teesside 87-84 in another thriller last Saturday.

He said: "Sunday's game probably meant a lot more to Solent than it did to us.

"We beat Teesside and it was a great game but the players were a bit flat on Sunday."