Kings once more: How Sydney climbed back to the NBL mountaintop
They were the top two teams in the league from start to finish, but the energy around the Sydney Kings and Adelaide 36ers couldn’t have been much more different heading into the championship series.
The Kings came into the decider as winners of 13 consecutive games. Statistically, they had become one of the most dominant sides in NBL history. As the series reached a 2-2 stalemate, their wins were dominant shows of strength, and their losses came by a combined three points. They were heavy favourites to close out the title at home, and for good reason.
It was a very different feeling in Adelaide, where an impressive season always felt on the brink of disaster. They sat atop the ladder for 11 rounds of the regular season, but were overrun late by the Kings to lose home court advantage through the finals. They were 4-7 over their last 11 games heading into the postseason, with their coach constantly in the headlines and reportedly on the hot seat throughout.
In the end, all of that mattered for nothing. For all of their contrasting form, the drama on the court and in the headlines, the battle between Kendric Davis and Bryce Cotton, the raucous crowds in both cities and the equally passionate players on either side, the two teams couldn’t be separated through four games. Everything came down to game five, with 40 minutes of basketball – plus, as it played out, five minutes of overtime – to decide the championship.
The Sydney Kings were the favourites, with the chance to claim the title on their turf. There were two teams on the court, but it felt like all of the pressure sat on their shoulders. One game from their destiny, or one game from disaster.
Where high-pressure games often crawl out of the gate, things felt a little more frenetic from the opening tip at Qudos Bank Arena. There was tension, for sure, but it came through in the helter skelter of quick shots and relentless effort from both sides. “This is a white hot start by both of these teams – no signs of nerves,” seven-time MVP Andrew Gaze said on the broadcast as they traded blows in the opening minutes.
Against a Kings side that was usually methodical in their approach, the fast pace allowed Adelaide to land some early punches and find their footing. They needed a steadier, and as it has been for so much of this generation of Sydney success, the calming presence was Xavier Cooks.
Playing in his third championship series, the occasion was never going to get the better of the Kings captain. He was aggressive from the outset, using his speed to attack Isaac Humphries off the dribble for his first bucket and scoring six points in the opening term, along with a pair of offensive rebounds that led to scores. As always, though, it was about more than just the numbers – in the madhouse that was Qudos Bank Arena packed with 18,589 rabid fans, he brought stability by doing the little things that contribute to winning. By game’s end, he’d done it all classic Xavier Cooks fashion – 19 points, 12 rebounds, four assists, three steals and a block, and most importantly, a win for his team.
Flash back to the early rounds of NBL26, and none of that would have seemed likely. On October 26, a home loss to Tasmania dropped Sydney’s record to 2-5; Cooks scored just five points in that game, and it was his turnover that led to Nick Marshall’s buzzer-beating game-winner. “That Tasmania game, especially for me personally, was probably the lowest I’d felt in a long time on the court… that was a big wakeup call for me,” Cooks said back in December.
Through those first seven games of the season, he was averaging just 10.6 points and shooting an abysmal 26% from the free throw line. Those yips drew plenty of outside criticism amidst the team’s struggles, but then, the average punter has always struggled to fully understand Cooks’ brilliance. It was no different this season, and no coincidence that as he found his feet, so too did the Kings.
In his four full, non-injury-plagued seasons with the team, they’ve never ranked outside the top three in defensive rating; this year, their league-best defence helped to power their success, led by his versatility and willingness to always do the dirty work. Add in his unique offensive skill set as a connector and high-level play finisher, and he’s the key that unlocks so much of what they do on both ends. More than anything, he’s the heart and soul of a club that, before his arrival, had lacked heart and soul since returning to the league.
That was never clearer than in the dogfight of the championship series, where he stood up time and time again in the biggest moments. Across the five games, he averaged 16 points, 7.8 rebounds, 2.8 assists, 1.8 blocks and one steal per game, finishing third in voting for the Larry Sengstock Medal as series MVP. That effort in his third title run, alongside a Sengstock Medal of his own and a regular season MVP, cemented his place as a modern great of the league; still, he would take no credit for himself. “Every moment of this game, someone had to come in and make a play… everybody played a role in this championship,” he told the postgame presser.
Through the first four games of the series, Sydney’s MO was clear – throw everything at Bryce Cotton and try to slow him down. They did that better than anyone during the regular season, and in their first two grand final wins, they held him to 10 and 15 points. That made the early exchanges of game five all the more ominous, as the six-time MVP got loose and poured in 11 points in the first quarter.
Across the season, the Kings threw multiple bodies at him at every opportunity, with their rotating cast of long, athletic wings all taking their turn. “It’s like a baseball pitcher and you’ve got different pitches, we’ve got different guys that have different strengths,” Goorjian said of their matchups on Cotton.
When it came to the championship series, one man had more success than anyone in slowing him down, and it was no coincidence that, as Cotton got hot early in game five, Matthew Dellavedova was sitting on the bench. The 35-year-old veteran earned equal parts praise and criticism for his efforts guarding Cotton across the first four games – praise for his impact in keeping Cotton quiet, and criticism for the physical nature of his defence. Regardless, he’d been huge for the Kings, and it was strange to see him play the opening minute and a half with Bryce scoreless, then spend the next six minutes on the bench as he got hot.
By the time he checked back in, there was no cooling Bryce down on his way to 35 points. That didn’t stop Dellavedova from giving him one hell of a working over, slowly wearing him down with that trademark physicality. By overtime, it had clearly taken its toll; while Dellavedova had fouled out late in regulation, his presence was felt as Cotton ran out of legs and Sydney stormed home. In between, Dellavedova made some huge plays himself – a charge drawn in the middle of a key second-quarter run, back-to-back triples in the third when Adelaide left him open and dared him to shoot, and by the final buzzer, a crucial 11 points and three assists with no turnovers.
Like Cooks, Dellavedova was playing in his third NBL championship series; unlike his captain, he was yet to win one, losing in each of the last two seasons with Melbourne United. After back-to-back game five heartbreaks, this year’s triumph was a welcome change. “Relief, I think, is the word. It’s been a long road,” he told ESPN’s Olgun Uluc postgame.
Realistically, he had nothing to prove this season – after all, he’s an NBA champion, a four-time Olympian and bronze medallist, and indisputably one of Australia’s greatest ever players. Still, that status brought high expectations when he landed in Sydney, expectations that his on-court play didn’t always meet. His shooting came under the microscope early in the season, and he was shifted from the starting lineup to the bench and back again as the Kings looked for their winning recipe.
There was little doubt that he would find his role eventually, but even if he didn’t, he would have still brought immense value to the team. On a squad led by a young point guard still learning on the fly, and with developing talent in key roles, he was the perfect mentor. “To have guys on your team who young men can look at, identify with, and understand that’s the benchmark, he’s the benchmark,” Kings co-owner Luc Longley told ESPN.
Game five was a slugfest, with both teams throwing haymakers but neither able to land the knockout blow. The stars stood tall for either side, but they alone weren’t enough to keep their teams in it. That suited the Kings just fine – their depth had been a calling card all season long, and in the biggest game of their lives, their role players stepped up once again.
It started with Tim Soares, who tends to fly under the radar but was front and centre in the opening minutes. The Brazilian big man scored seven of his team’s first 11 points, opening their account with a layup from a slick Kendric Davis feed, making a tidy post hook over Isaac Humphries, and draining a three to give them an early lead. Fast forward to the end of regulation, and it was Soares that made the play to save Sydney’s season, fighting for an offensive rebound in the dying seconds and putting it back up and in to send the game to overtime.
While his impact is often understated, it now can’t be ignored that Soares is a winner through and through – two seasons in Sydney, two championships. “He’s multi-purpose, he can shoot the ball, he can make decisions off the bounce, he’s good around the basket, he’s just a very very good basketball player,” Goorjian said of his centre after game one. “Zero maintenance, just comes every day, does his job, great teammate.”
Then there was Jaylin Galloway, who poured in 16 points in the game and made some huge shots in crucial moments – a three on the quarter time buzzer to grab back some momentum, another in the fourth quarter after they fell behind by seven, and an and-one finish to ice the game in overtime. That capped off a remarkable championship series for the 23-year-old, averaging 15.2 points per game and knocking down 18 triples despite a shoulder injury that will require offseason surgery.
His fellow young wing Makuach Maluach was quieter in the series and played just 12 minutes in game five, but he too seized his moment when it arrived. After playing less than ten minutes in regulation, foul trouble saw him check in with less than three minutes left in overtime and a six point lead in hand. His second possession on the floor, he stole the ball from Cotton to set up a Kendric Davis bucket; on the next defensive play, he swatted a Bryce jump shot, leading to Galloway’s and-one. Game over, just like that.
Torrey Craig was another that didn’t star in game five, but he was crucial to Sydney’s success and those shining moments for his teammates. After arriving mid-season as an injury replacement, he slotted straight in with minimal fuss and instantly made the Kings better. On the court, they didn’t lose a game with him until the grand final series; off the court, he was using his 450-plus games of NBA experience to nurture the team’s young stars. “I tried to take guys like JG and ‘Uach under my wing and give them that confidence, but also competitiveness,” Craig said after game one. “Just giving them as much knowledge as I can about what I’ve learned and how it can help them grow into the players that they’re becoming.”
Maybe most impressive is that the Kings were able to build such meaningful depth even with injuries to key players. When Keli Leupepe went down ahead of the season, Galloway, Maluach and Kouat Noi stepped up in small-ball lineups, with Soares becoming doubly important. Bul Kuol was a defensive leader, and his season-ending injury could have derailed their season; instead, they were able to bring in Craig as the piece that pushed them over the top. Tyler Robertson was a solid rotational piece before his injury in late February, and they were able to adjust and adapt late in the season.
“Selfishly, you want to be a part of something like this your whole life, so it’s a lot of fun,” Soares said in the midst of the series. “Being able to step up and be a part of the big games, the big moments, is a privilege.”
It was the play that could have broken Sydney’s back and sent the title to Adelaide. With two and a half minutes left in game five, Cotton caught the ball, faked, sidestepped, and rose up from three. The shot went down, the foul was called, and a miraculous four-point play pushed Adelaide’s lead out to six.
Timeout, Sydney. With their season on the line, what was the message in that huddle? “Just try to dig in, get some stops, and get the ball to KD,” Dellavedova shared with ESPN postgame.
Ultimately, Sydney’s fate sat with Kendric Davis. His teammates had stepped up in their moments, sure, but with Cotton on yet another all-time heater, they needed consistent brilliance from their star guard. “In game fives, it’s not about the role players, they’ve done their job all series to get us here,” Davis told ESPN after the game. “I had to be who I said I am.”
He had already been incredible throughout the game, flirting with a double-double in the first half and methodically picking apart the Sixers defence. From that point on, though, he went to another level; he scored seven points in those last two and a half minutes to help Sydney storm back, then poured in another seven in overtime to seal the title.
There were moments where he looked human, just as there were moments that even an all-time great in Cotton struggled. Most glaring for Davis was game two of the series, where Sydney fell victim to a vintage Cotton game-winner; Davis shot 6-15 from the field in the game, then got right in Cotton’s face as he celebrated. It was another moment that could have caused him and his team to unravel; instead, he responded with a historic performance in game three, dropping 34 points, 15 assists and zero turnovers in a crucial win.
That felt like the perfect encapsulation of Davis, a young star with visible flaws and raw emotions, but who learned to find balance and grew into his role as a leader. It was also a full-circle moment for the player that took so much of the blame for Adelaide’s implosion last season, with his character and behaviour called into question and pointed to as the root cause. “I couldn’t even click on Instagram at the beginning of the year, you just see all the hateful things… you never want to be determined off one bad relationship, and that’s what it felt like,” he shared after game five, in his first press conference of the season.
In Sydney, he found a perfect match, a club that was willing to look past those rumours and put him in position to succeed. With a wealth of basketball knowledge and veteran leadership, both on and off the court, they helped him to grow from a talent into a superstar. “I had some maturing to do when I got here. Goorj, Luc, Bogues, Delly, X, Brucey, they took me under their wing, and I think I then became a man,” Davis said on the broadcast.
None of them would have been enough, though, if he hadn’t been willing to put in the work himself. The reputation he gained in Adelaide, fairly or unfairly, could have defined his time in the NBL and, based on his own reflections, the rest of his basketball career. Instead, he found a better situation and fought tooth and nail to turn things around. In turn, his teammates put their trust in him to lead them to the promised land. “It’s pretty easy to do when you see the work he puts in every single day, and he is a legit workhorse, always working on his game,” Dellavedova said of that trust.
By the final buzzer of game five, Davis had already written himself into NBL folklore with an incredible grand final series, averaging 27.2 points and 10.4 assists and willing his team to victory; minutes later, it became official as he was presented the Larry Sengstock Medal. As he stood on stage, silverware in one hand and his son’s hand in the other, he put it better than anyone else could. “It’s my time now.”
There are few more joyful scenes than the moments after winning a championship. As the floor fills with people, first the players, then the coach, then friends, families, and more, the positive energy is infectious. In that setting, full of pure, unfiltered emotions, there was one name that every single King was giving plenty of love to.
From the MVP, Kendric Davis: “Goorj, he gave me an opportunity, when everybody tried to bash my name, he said I believe in you son, I’mma make you a better man.”
From the rising star, Makuach Maluach: “He believed in me, and he said if you come back, you’re going to get the reward you want.”
And from the captain, Xavier Cooks: “It means so much – I wanted this one so bad, I wanted this for Goorj.”
Like Dellavedova, Brian Goorjian had nothing to prove this season. He was already a six-time champion, a seven-time NBL Coach of the Year, and led the Boomers to an Olympic medal. After four decades working the sidelines both here and abroad, he could have already retired as a legend of the sport.
And yet, it somehow felt like he did have to prove himself. After ending his Boomers tenure with disappointing results at the 2023 World Cup and the 2024 Olympics, and then struggling to make last season’s Kings click, there were plenty of questions around his ability as a coach, and his fit in the modern game. Those questions were clearly unfounded, but they didn’t go unnoticed inside Sydney’s four walls. “I’ve seen his name get dragged through the mud after the last two years… I wanted it for him, man,” Cooks said.
With so many accolades and at 72 years old, he could have easily thrown in the towel, walked away altogether or lost some of his fire. When the Kings stumbled out of the gates this season and the criticism kept on coming, plenty of coaches would have lost their cool. And yet, even back in October, after that disastrous loss to Tasmania that left him shaking his head and struggling for words, Goorjian was steadfast in his belief. “I’ve said this all along, I love the team.”
After watching these Kings emerge from the dark tunnel and into the light, it’s now easy to see why players love playing for Goorjian. Amidst the struggles of both the Kings and the Boomers, his positive messaging might have read like bluster and a refusal to address the issues; now, it’s clear that it’s deeper than that, stemming from a relentless belief in his players and a willingness to put himself in the firing line rather than thrown them to the wolves.
It seems safe to say that, regardless of what happens from now, Goorjian is safe from any more public potshots. He’s contracted with the Kings through to the end of next season, and he plans to see out that contract; beyond that is a mystery, but he’s earned whatever comes next. “I think I’ve put that to rest, and I can play my career out here now trying to get this next one with the bank’s money,” he said after game five.
There was little doubt already, but a seventh title removes any questions around Goorjian’s standing as Australia’s greatest ever coach. 17 years after his last championship, and 34 years on from his first, this one feels like an even more incredible note in the history books.
As Sydney reigns supreme over the NBL once again, it only feels right to have Goorjian back in his throne as the King of Kings.