How Fleur McIntyre became the Sydney Kings' secret weapon
The assistant coach swapped academia for the NBL and carved a slice of history
When the Sydney Kings clinched the 2021/22 NBL championship, Fleur McIntyre became only the fifth woman to be an assistant coach in the league and the first to win a championship.
While relocating from her native Western Australia to the harbour city was initially a somewhat intimidating prospect, conversations with special advisor Luc Longley and head coach Chase Buford convinced her the team would be a great fit.
“We like to play with pace, and most of our stuff revolves around that five-out structure,” she told The Pick and Roll. “I’d run a lot of that previously, coaching (the Cockburn Cougars) in the NBL1, with under 16 and under 18 state teams, so I felt really familiar with how Chase [Buford] wanted to play. His style resonated with me, and I was super excited to be a part of that system.”
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