"Grit" defines Kings’ stunning title turnaround

“Gritty” is the word Brian Goorjian keeps coming back to when describing his title-winning Sydney Kings.

From a 3–5 start to the season to an incredible run that ended with a Game 5 triumph in the Championship Series, the Kings’ turnaround was remarkable.

But Goorjian never wavered in his belief.

“The word I got back … from a lot of people I know overseas in America, a common word for the win was 'gritty',” the seven-time championship coach said on Monday.

“That is what I think Sydney fell in love with, with this team.

“From the start, where we were behind the eight ball, we always had a competitive spirit and a grit to us. When everybody else thought 'they’re in deep trouble', we kept fighting and playing the next possession.

“To win it in that style (coming from behind in Game 5), it just kind of put an envelope on our year.”

The Kings won their title in five seasons with an overtime win over Adelaide at Qudos Bank Arena on Sunday.

For Goorjian, it was a fitting culmination of the work done behind the scenes to reshape the club following its NBL23 Championship run.

“It’s a selection of people,” he said.

“You have to have a great office, you have to have great ownership and you have to have great players.”

Finishing fifth in NBL25 and bowing out in the Play-In Qualifier, the Kings closed that campaign with four straight losses.

NBL26 told a completely different story. Sydney entered the Finals riding an 11-game winning streak and lost just two games in the post-season, both against Adelaide.

“We had a two-year kind of slide where the organisation went through change in staff, change in players, change in ownership, but we’ve always stayed competitive,” Goorjian added.

“Now I think we’ve hit pay dirt on who we’ve selected in all these aspects of it. The selection of people really, in sport, is the ingredients of winning.”