Message to members from Andrew Bogut

The following message was emailed to members today on behalf of part owner and club great Andrew Bogut _

Dear Kings Members, 

Now that the dust has settled I thought I would pen my thoughts on what was a rollercoaster of an amazing season. After not making the NBL Finals the season before I truly believed the roster put together by Chris Pongrass and the team for the 2021-22 season was one in which could compete for a championship. This was based on the talent we had on paper. 

I had mentioned this to Paul Smith and I wasn’t sure if he thought I was crazy or just being overly positive considering the season we just had in 2020-2021. I believed it, but there was a lot of work to do in the meantime. 

We had a rookie head coach in Chase Buford, whom we sourced from the USA, which mind you was not very popular in many circles around the NBL.  “Why hire a coach from the USA, they are rarely successful in the NBL,” was the cry.  Then, after what we all agree was a up and down start to the season, we hit a low point at 3-6. 

I can tell you our weekly board calls went from what was usually an hour max, to sometimes two-hours plus.  We had concerns, but at the same time we all knew we hadn’t had our team completely healthy for what felt like an eternity.  We needed some consistency.  We treaded water and going into a two-game weekend in round 11 we were 6-6. 

This round was the turning point in our season. We beat SEM Phoenix in a close one. We then had Brisbane in a game in which we did not deserve to win. Brisbane had a seven-point lead early in the fourth-quarter and a two-point lead later in the quarter until Jaylen Adams put down a dunk for the ages and got fouled.  History records Jaylen missed the free throw, got his own rebound and threw it to a wide-open Jarrell Martin under the basket for layup. Buzzer sounds. We win by two points. 

This moment changed the trajectory of our season. We went on to win 13 straight games and did not lose a single road game from this point, finals included.  The rest is history. We win a championship and I would not change ONE thing. 

When you win, it makes the tough times that much sweeter.  Every single player on our roster had their fingerprints on this. Chase Buford and his staff grew immensely throughout the season albeit after some mistakes and hot-headed moments (and broken LED signs). That’s what makes this sweeter. We were not perfect. 

 Our support staff and arena staff were also a part of this all. Countless amounts of people who work behind the scenes, from filling up drink bottles, to making sure we sell tickets … they are all now CHAMPIONS. 

 Our fans, YOU, showed up when times were looking shaky. When things were not going well.  When our PA system stopped working due a power shortage late in the season, you had to get even louder. You did! You are all CHAMPIONS! 

To finish this off I thought I would leave you with some secret sauce. I, amongst others have heard the old adage that the “The Sydney Kings bought a championship”.  Well, here is something for our fans to be proud of. In the 2021-22 NBL Season, YOUR Sydney Kings salary cap spend was $1,501,592.63.  We were under the salary cap for the season and just to keep things in perspective, that spend put the Sydney Kings in seventh for total spends. Yes, SEVENTH. 

One might say the Sydney Kings were the true “Cinderella story” of this past NBL Season. 

Enjoy the off season and remember, we are CHAMPIONS! 

Regards, 

Andrew Bogut 

NBL CHAMPION!