Kings announce Claude Williams MVP Award ahead of Indigenous Round game

Ahead of the Club’s Round 20 Indigenous Round game against Melbourne United tomorrow night, the Brydens Lawyers Sydney Kings have announced the inaugural Claude Williams Most Valuable Player award to be presented to the best player on court during the Kings annual Indigenous Round clash.

The Claude Williams MVP is an initiative that honours and pays tribute the incredible sporting achievements of one of the NBL’s first Indigenous players and former Kings Head Coach, Claude Williams. 

A pioneer of his time, Williams begun his incredible sporting resume as a cricketer, opening both the bowling and the batting for the Sydney Cricket Club in the AW Green Shield competition, before being scouted by the NSW Tennis Association to join their elite program. As he got older, he moved his attention to Rugby League where he played for the South Sydney Rabbitohs in the NRL between 1973-74, juggling his league commitments with his love of basketball.  

After finally committing to switch codes, Williams went on to play 101 games for the City of Sydney Astronauts and SuperSonics, representing NSW on multiple occasions in the National Titles and Australian Club Championships (the national competitions in existence prior to the establishment of the NBL). Later he would take up the role as Assistant Coach/Player of the Sonics, before the emergence of the Sydney Kings in 1987 saw Mike Wrubleski hand him the reigns as the Kings inaugural Head Coach. He became the first, and only Aboriginal basketball Head Coach in the NBL to date.

“I’m very humbled by the Kings naming this award after me. I thought it was really nice when the Kings reached out to me to bring me down and have me as part of this game again, and then when they mentioned they wanted to create an award in my name, that was something that I’d never dreamed of” Williams said.

“It was a huge honour for me to be appointed the inaugural Head Coach of the Sydney Kings back in 1987. Since then I’ve been the first and only Aboriginal to be a Head Coach in the NBL, which I’m very proud of, but I’m looking forward to hopefully seeing a few more following in my footsteps” he shared.

His story is a remarkable one. He’s an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Sports Hall of Famer, and despite now being retired and enjoying his time on the tennis court, he continues to volunteer his time as a basketball coach through his work with Brian Kerle with the Young Indigenous Basketball Academy (YIBA) in Mount Gravatt.

The Claude Williams MVP will be presented with a piece of indigenous artwork painted by Indigenous artist Bruce Shillingsworth Snr, who also produced the Kings jersey artwork that the Kings players will be wearing on the evening. You can learn more about the jersey design, here.

The MVP will be decided by a panel of voters on the night, including Claude Williams, and will be presented to the player on court post-game. 

The Kings Indigenous Round game which coincides with Reconciliation Week is proudly supported by the Aboriginal Health and Medical Research Council of NSW (AH&MRC) and aims to encourage the building of respectful relationships between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and other Australians.

The Kings play their Indigenous Round game against Melbourne United at 7.45pm this Saturday 29 May at Qudos Bank Arena. Tickets are available at ticketek.com.au/sydneykings.