Shaun Bruce celebrates major milestone

One of our most loyal servants will celebrate his 250^th league game milestone in the NBL Hungry Jack’s Grand Final tonight.

With a long and successful NBL career, Shaun Bruce (affectionately known as ‘Brucey’) will hit a milestone only a handful Kings have reached. Bruce will be the 41^st player to play 250 or more while playing for the club at a stage in their career.

Bruce started his NBL career with the Cairns Taipans, he played in Queensland for nearly a decade for both with the Taipans and Bullets. After some overseas stints in New Zealand and Malaysia, he eventually landed with the Adelaide 36ers as an injury replacement for Ramone Moore.

That small seven-game sample was enough for the Kings to bring Bruce on to join then-coach Will Weaver and the previous season’s NBL MVP Andrew Bogut.

“I was just trying to get an in anywhere, I didn’t even know Will Weaver or GM Chris Pongrass,” Bruce said in 2020.

“It was really the only team I didn’t message personally. For me, leading into last year, I never really pictured myself being a King … For how it turned out, I couldn’t have asked for anything better.”

After a breakout season in Sydney, Bruce was nominated for the NBL’s 2019-20 Most Improved Player and Sixth Man awards, including taking home the Sydney Kings Coaches’ Award.

He was an integral part of the Kings’ 2019-20 Grand Final run that season and was rewarded with a two-season contract extension.

Bruce this season is the Kings’ most experienced player, Ian Clark later joined and is only a few months younger than Bruce but obviously doesn’t have the NBL experience that Bruce has.

The 31-year-old guard has been the leader and spark plug off the bench. He’s given the league MVP Jaylen Adams a rest as the back-up guard and has held the bench accountable, while seemingly fitting with the midseason addition of Clark.

A former teammate of Bruce’s and now coach Kevin Lisch spoke with Kings media this week on Bruce’s impact on the team on and off the court.

“I think Brucey is just a great guy to be around,” Lisch said.

‘From a coach’s perspective, his teammates really embrace him and get along with him. He’s a player’s player, he makes guys feel welcome on and off the court, especially our imports when they arrive in the country.”

Lisch jokingly remarked that Bruce being voted as the league’s best trash talker is misleading, as Bruce’s leadership is more based on his actions rather than words.

“He leads by example, he leads by voice too, he is the ultimate professional,” Lisch said.

“The way he takes care of himself (his body) and he’s on time with everything, there are a lot of attributes for a lot of younger guys to look up to.”

Many players try to rush coming back from injuries, but Lisch praised Bruce on how well he handled his return from a calf injury this season. Lisch has had his own share of lower-body injuries and said how Bruce conducted himself coming back from his injury was a positive example for the group.

Lisch said that his favourite part of Bruce’s story to 250 NBL games was that stint in Adelaide, coming from practically out of the league to being an integral part of two grand final appearances with the Kings.

“I think that’s the coolest part of his story,” he said.

“Shaun was out of the league essentially; he barely could find a job but he kept working his butt off. Sydney offered him a spot and the rest was history.

‘It’s just a great lesson, guys start in different places, and he just kept working and kept believing. He’s been an integral part of our group, especially with guys in and out. He has stabilised our group in more ways than one this season.”

The Kings will also be celebrating Dejan Vasiljevic 50^th NBL game, get your tickets to our grand final series here.