A message to our members

Our co-owner and chairman Paul Smith sent this address to our Kings members on Friday _

I could only dream of being in the position to write a message to members on the back of winning an NBL Championship.

It would be easy? Simply write about how good it feels, congratulate everyone, talk about going back-to-back, retain as many of the team as possible, so members should buy their memberships and get your friends to buy memberships.

If only it was that easy.

In all honesty, the experience of owning The Sydney Kings created a dreaded sense in me that winning an NBL Championship would always be out of our reach.  In reality this was a negative logic that was informed by the experiences of previous seasons. 

Injuries, illness, COVID, challenging game schedules, luck, player and coach movements….keep stacking up all the other things that can go wrong and you can actually form the view that winning is almost impossible. But embracing the sense of impossibility is the only way to overcome.

And that is exactly what this club did this season.  And we didn’t shy away from where we found ourselves at any stage of the season. From a ragged start, where hard questions were asked internally, through to a glorious sweep of Illawarra and Tasmania on the way to our fourth Championship, we proved that you never can be counted out.

Remember the 13 straight wins?

And 12 road wins.

Or winning 19 of our last 21 games.

The numbers are extraordinary and speak to the talent we assembled, on and off, the court. 

We won’t bring back the exact same squad for next season.  Players will seek better opportunities, and players will join us that fit with the coaching approach.  This is completely normal.

But I know this now.  We can win Championships!  The experience of this past season only fuels the desire to build upon our learnings.  We are better prepared than ever to go into the 2023 NBL Season; prepared to deal with the challenges, opportunities, and emotions of working towards winning NBL Championships.

The validation of what was achieved this year was reflected in record crowds at our finals games, I am sure everyone is proud of the way Sydney has re-embraced The Sydney Kings and basketball. 

To our members, this isn’t possible without you.  You are the heartbeat of our club.  It was humbling to speak to many members who were impacted by winning the Championship.  Thank you for your kind words.

In 2019 when we took control of The Sydney Kings, I wrote to members and asked that you judge us by our actions and not our words.  Two Grand Finals appearances and a Championship in three years isn’t too shabby.  I say this not to gloat, but to acknowledge we have an incredible foundation for future success, and I promise we will not squander it.

The hard work has already begun as Free Agency started last Friday.  I can tell you that a lot of players around the NBL want to play in Sydney, we will compile a squad you will be proud of.

It’s a very short off season and before we know it will be time for members and fans to return for next season and we plan to build up the ranks even further as we “Pack the Q”.  See you at our first home game as we lift our 2022 Championship Banner to the rafters!

Thank you.

Paul

Paul Smith

Co-owner and chairman of The Sydney Kings