| NBL champions | League champions | Runners-up | Finals berth |
| Season | Tier | League | Regular season | Post-season | Head coach | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Finish | Played | Wins | Losses | Win % | |||||||
| West Adelaide Bearcats | |||||||||||
| 1979 | 1 | NBL | 4th | 18 | 12 | 6 | .667 | Did not qualify | Ken Richardson | ||
| 1980 | 1 | NBL | 2nd | 22 | 17 | 5 | .773 | Won semifinal (Brisbane) 101–94 Lost NBL final (St. Kilda) 88–113 |
Ken Richardson | ||
| 1981 | 1 | NBL | 3rd | 22 | 13 | 9 | .591 | Lost semifinal (Nunawading) 71–74 | Ken Richardson | ||
| 1982 | 1 | NBL | 1st | 26 | 21 | 5 | .808 | Won semifinal (Coburg 94–74 Won NBL final (Geelong) 80–74 |
Ken Richardson | ||
| 1983 | 1 | NBL | 2nd | 22 | 17 | 5 | .773 | Qualified round robin 2–1 Won semifinal (Nunawading) 84–77 Lost NBL final (Canberra, 73–75) |
Ken Cole | ||
| 1984 | 1 | NBL | 6th | 24 | 11 | 13 | .458 | Did not qualify | Ken Cole | ||
| Regular season record | 134 | 91 | 43 | .679 | 1 regular season champions | ||||||
| Finals record | 10 | 6 | 4 | .600 | 1 NBL championships | ||||||
As of the end of the 1984 season
*Note: In 1983 and 1984, the NBL was split into Eastern and Western divisions during the regular season.