Bogut joins Kings coach staff in major boost for NBL power

Sydney Kings will have former NBA star Andrew Bogut on the coaching roster for NBL 26, in a major boost for Brian Goorjian’s outfit 

The Kings have been big players in the off-season with the recruitment of Matthew Dellavedova and Kendric Davis, who will be two of the best guards in the league. 

But it might be the addition of Bogut, who was the 2005 No.1 NBA draft pick and is a part-owner of the NBL team, that gives the Kings an edge on their opposition. 

“He brings a presence on the floor. He has an incredible basketball mind,” Goorjian said.

“And this is another thing about Bogut – he will speak his mind and he’s not afraid. He’ll hit you straight between the eyes. And I’ve already been through a couple of scenarios with him – if you say no, ‘I hear you, but we’re going to go this way,’ it’s onward and upward and we’re rolling.

“It’s full-on coaching. It’s something that you’re committed to, that you’re going to give the full you to. And for a lot of the guys that have played in the NBA and have the money that he does in the background – ‘Do you?’ That was one of the questions I had for him. I’m convinced that he’s passionate and he has goals that he wants to achieve in this. And he’s energised to do it.” 

Bogut went on to play 706 NBA games before finishing his career playing for the Kings  in the 2019-20 season. He has since lived in Australia, becoming an outspoken critic of the Victorian government during the covid pandemic.

With the addition of Dellavedova and Davis, the Kings will be hoping their league leading defence can be complemented by an improved attack. 

There is another key element Goorjian believes his recruits can fix. 

“I thought last year and just with the group in general … it was tenacity,” he said.

“I thought last year … you get to the Grand Final Series and look at the teams in it … Wollongong (Illawarra) and Melbourne. When you played against them, they were physical. They stand over you. They had toughness. And that togetherness that’s been built over time.

“You go back to the teams that won the championship. They had the down year, a total change, and now we’re building something.”

There is not yet any NBL championship odds available at Australian betting sites for the 2025-26 season, which is due to kick off in October.