Hoops Capital Heroes: John Davidson

As we know, not all heroes wear capes.

So we thought it would be great to recognise the hard work of individuals of the Sydney Kings and Flames community with our new 'Hoops Capital Heroes' series.

The first cab off the rank is long-time Kings volunteer John Davidson.

Davidson first got involved in hoops as a junior - while also trying his hand at swimming and football.

But due to his height and ability to jump, Davidson said 'basketball liked him', so he pursued that.

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He enjoyed stints with Dandenong and Frankston in Victoria, as well as Parramatta once he moved north of the border for work - which is when he first joined the Kings as a volunteer in 1988.

"I got involved with Mike Wrublewski (original owner of the Kings) before the amalgamation with Bankstown Bruins in 1988," said Davidson, who explained he was a member of the ill-fated consortium that purchased the Kings from Wrublewski in the early 2000s.

"I was living in Bondi, as I had moved up from Melbourne to work for Shell.

"Basketball was a great way to meet people and getting involved with the Kings and playing for Parramatta introduced me to Sydney.

"My involvement with the Kings has pretty much been continuous since 1988, other than when I have been based overseas with work."

During this tenure. which has spanned more than 30 years, Davidson has held numerous roles.

"Early on, we collected tickets and pretty much did anything that needed to be done," said Davidson, who has also held other volunteer roles such as WNBL director and WNBL chairperson (which he held for 10 years), as well as helping at both the 1994 Women's World Championships and 2022 FIBA Women's World Cup in Sydney.

"Then I was the game commissioner (again a volunteer role) for some 25 years or more, where the home NBL team had to supply a senior individual to act on behalf of the league at the games - this role is now undertaken by an NBL employee.

"We also helped set up and pack up at the games.

"Now I assist Katrina [Lindner] and Chris [Ohlback] set up the stadium for the game and assist with the teams, as well as packing up after the games and assist at game time as needed."

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Having been involved with the purple and gold since the start, the 69-year-old has seen the change plenty over the years.

"The club has grown on the shoulders of a lot of people and experiences, good and bad, since 1988," said Davidson, who has many favourite memories over the years including the time the team went to Hawaii to play NBA outfit Philadelphia, the first time the Kings sold out the Entertainment Centre and last season's championship - saying 'we didn't have the best individuals, but we had the best team and coaches - I really enjoyed last season'.

"I can remember having to steer all ticket holders to one side of the State Sports Centre and still we couldn't fill all the seats.

"The Kings originally had one full-time and one part-time staffer in the early 1990s.

"Then we started to have success with American players like Dwayne McClain and Leon Trimmingham and locals like Damian Keogh.

"The path has certainly been rocky for the club from the early successes to going into administration.

"I think the days of the big crowds and celebrities at the Entertainment Centre and the associated publicity for basketball were as exciting as anything I have seen for the club.

"As exciting as the early days were, I look at the club today and the depth of skills and experience we have in the staff, team support and ownership and there is no comparison to the early days.

"The Kings organisation today is exceptional and the full houses at Olympic Park [Qudos Bank Arena] and the on-court successes are reflective of the organisation - I'll also call out the quality of the people on the coaching and playing staff."

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Further to that, Davidson outlined why the harbour city club is so special to him.

"[What I love most about the Kings/Flame] are the people," he said.

"The playing success and full stadiums are great, the visibility the Kings and Flames give basketball is fantastic, the celebrities attending is also great, but it is the people in the organisation that have me come back each game.

"Katrina, Chris [Pongrass] and Chris [Ohlback] and the staff, the coaches and team and the owners, not a bad person in the whole group.

"The same goes for the extended team on game day, GBE, officials, stadium and broadcast staff.

"An example of the calibre of the people is, the next visitors after my family to the cancer ward when I was ill were Andrew Gaze and Kevin Lisch, which cheered me up greatly and also made me a minor celebrity as I was a mate of Andrew's.

"The club also allowed me to help on game days during my recovery, bald head and all, even though I wasn't much help, but it was a great distraction for me when I wasn't feeling well."

Looking forward, Davidson likes the direction the Hoops Capital club is headed.

"I really like where the club is at," he said.

"Chris Pongrass and Katrina have a good off-court team and we are getting to the point where the character of the organisation may nearly outweigh any changes we may have in coach and players long term.

"I also really love the focus and investment in the Flames and this may be what Paul [Smith] gets remembered for in later years.

"the ownership group looks good and Robin [Denholm] will certainly add value.

"The challenge now is living up to everyone's expectations, which I'm confident we can do."