Brian Goorjian has signed a multi-year deal to become the Sydney Kings’ head coach after their disappointing end to last season.
Goorjian, who previously led the Kings to a three-peat championship run (2003-2005), holds the record for the most games coached in NBL history (803) and the most titles in league history at six.
Goorjian himself expressed his excitement at returning to the team where he found so much success.
“Honestly, I never thought I’d leave Sydney the first time after we built everything from the ground up and were winning consistently – it felt like home to me and I thought I’d finish my coaching career there, as we’d built something really special,” Goorjian said.
“But when I left, I never looked over my shoulder as I didn’t think I’d ever get a chance to coach the Kings again – it’s amazing how life works like this sometimes.”
The addition of Goorjian to the Kings’ coaching staff undoubtedly launches Sydney back into the championship race next season, with some big roster moves on the horizon.
Fans will be eagerly anticipating the start of the season and to see how the team performs under the leadership of their legendary coach after rumours that outgoing coach Mahmoud Abdelfattah parted ways due to a lack of trust from the playing group, which resulted in the team falling short to the New Zealand Breakers in the NBL play-in tournament.
Goorjian is also the current head coach of the Australian National team and is preparing for the Boomer’s upcoming campaign at the 2024 Paris Olympics. His most recent coaching stint was with the Bay Area Dragons in the East Asia Super League. Prior to that, he spent two seasons as head coach of the Illawarra Hawks.
Goorjian did not coach domestically during the 2023-24 NBL season to focus on his duties with the Australian national team ahead of the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Going into free agency, the Kings have Alex Toohey (Next Star), Angus Glover, DJ Hogg (mutual option), and Makuach Maluach (team option) contracted for the 2024-25 NBL season.
Dan Boyce is a die-hard Sydney Kings fan who grew up in Melbourne during the roaring 90's of Australian Basketball and spent far too much time collecting Futera NBL Basketball cards.
