Playing the villain: Inside the Kings' NBL23 mindset

When the name ‘Sydney Kings’ comes to mind it’s tough to not immediately think of DJ Vasiljevic. It seems that everything that makes him so endearing to fans around the country are also values that are synonymous with the current crop of Kings players.

He possesses that endearing aloofness that borders on being a kind of charming arrogance that only someone who plays for a large and historic organisation can successfully pull off. He’s an immensely skilled player who can win the game of his own shot – although the quality of his team means he often doesn’t have to – and, of course, he thrives at playing the role of the antagonist to every other team around the league.

Sydney being this season’s ‘villains’ of the NBL is a title they accept with open arms. Chase Buford has talked about it at length, and the likes of Xavier Cooks and Jordi Hunter have both admitted they thrive in that situation in recent post-game press conferences.

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After last week’s win over Melbourne United, Buford name-dropped Vasiljevic as someone who enjoys that villainous title, and as someone who likes walking into an opposition arena and shutting up the home crowd with near flawless team performances.

“Last year we emphasised ‘road dogs’ and now we’re on 16 straight wins on the road,” Vasiljevic told NBL Media. “Everyone’s telling us we’re the villains and the target, everyone wants to beat us – and we love it.

“We come in to Darth Vader soundtracks, and we just start laughing. It’s like ‘alright, here we go again’. We always play great together on the road - everyone contributes and whoever has a good night, we just keep rolling.

“We love it, we actually enjoy it. We just have to do the same in our home. We’ve lost a few now at Qudos and I know Chase isn’t too happy about that, but he was very impressed with the way we came out against United (in Round 4) and we played really well.”

The way in which Vasiljevic has not only bought into the culture of the Kings organisation but become synonymous with the brand of the club makes it feel like he’s a player who’s grown up wearing the purple and gold his whole life, but nothing could be further than the truth.

Those eagle-eyed viewers watching the Kings’ Round 2 clash with United may have noticed when he dropped one of his three triples for the game he pointed to the floor and uttered ‘my city’. In fact, in an alternate world Vasiljevic could have easily been playing for one of the league’s Melbourne-based teams. Instead he’s torching them on a regular basis.

“I’m a Melbourne boy and I played my whole career with the Melbourne Tigers growing up, just to go to back and play in front of family and a few of my very close friends is unreal. You always want to put on a show for them and you always want to show up,” he said.

“‘Brucey’ (Kings teammate Shaun Bruce) and I are from Melbourne, so I think we’ve both had great games when we’ve come to Melbourne. ‘X’ always raves to us before the games, ‘hey man, this is your hometown – go off when you can’.

“Also, both Melbourne teams didn’t recruit me out of college so that’s kind of another motivation to say ‘hey, you’re missing out on this and the Kings are lucky to have me.”

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Given his performances for the side since signing in 2020, the Kings are certainly lucky to have Vasiljevic. Another player they’re lucky to have back on the court this season is centre Jordan Hunter.

After starting his Kings career as backup to Australian basketball legend Andrew Bogut, Hunter thrived in a starting role when afforded the opportunity in NBL21 – however a severe foot injury brought him crashing back down to earth as he missed the Kings’ championship tilt last year.

He’s back, and back to his best now though. He finished last week’s clash with United with 12 points and a game-high four blocks, and he’s formed one of the league’s most lethal centre rotations with fellow big-man Tim Soares.

“Jordi’s worked really hard to get to where he was,” Vasiljevic said. “I messaged him on his first NBL1 game back from injury and said ‘hey man, it’s good to have you back’.

“He hasn’t missed a beat really, so I’m very proud of him and he stuck to it. He and Tim have been great for us. When Tim subs out, Jordi plays great. When Jordi comes out, Tim just keeps it rolling. It’s really good, we have a really deep squad and I love playing with them both.

“You have to keep in mind that he was runners-up for most improved [in NBL21], and in my eyes I think he should have been most improved player. You were backup to Bogut for all those years and then you come into the starting line-up and you play really well. Last year he had an unfortunate injury but he’s come back and put in the work. It’s cool.”

At 5-2 for the season the Kings currently sit top of the NBL ladder, however that could change if they suffer their third home loss of the season tonight.

They take on a red-hot Cairns Taipans side who have surprised most neutrals to sit third on the standings with a 4-2 record four weeks into the season. Catch the game live on ESPN via Kayo Sports and Foxtel tonight from 8pm AEDT.