Winning back-to-back titles isn’t easy – just ask NBA veteran coach Gregg Popovich. Here is why the Sydney Kings have talked to Popovich as they look to create history in NBL23.
The difficulty of defending a championship is summed up when NBA super coach Gregg Popovich just laughs, more out of helplessness than anything, when asked about backing up a title.
Popovich is one of the NBA’s most successful coaches, having won five championships with the San Antonio Spurs.
For all ‘Pop’s’ success, he is yet to claim consecutive championships.
In fact, his Spurs never made it back to the NBA Finals after winning the title the previous season.
It’s a reality that Popovich was reminded of recently when talking to Sydney Kings coach Chase Buford at the NBL mentor’s wedding.
Buford, the son of legendary Spurs GM RC Buford, took time away from his special day to joke with ‘Pop’ about the challenges of winning back-to-back championships.
“It’s funny, I was with Pop at my wedding a few weeks ago and I said to him, ‘I think I understand why you guys never repeat,'” Buford told News Corp.
“We just had a laugh about it because he understands how hard it is.
“Everyone is kissing your ass and telling you how great you are, and you can fall into the trap of believing it all.”
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Buford knows Sydney will go from the hunters to the hunted this season, but he still wanted his team to enjoy the spoils of success.
It’s why he organized a fortnight of social events for his players and staff after winning the Kings’ first NBL championship in 17 years.
Sydney’s imports, barring big man Jarell Martin who had to leave for the birth of a child, stayed around to lap up the historic title with his teammates.
Buford believes the bonding helped the Kings become an even tighter unit.
“Makur Maker even put off his NBA Draft preparation just to be around his teammates for another week,” he said.
“I mean, if you aren’t enjoying what you accomplish, then why are you doing it?”
“That was one of the cool things about our group last year. We had two weeks after the season where our imports stayed around, and we just hung out together.
“We went to a Swans game; we went to Coogee and spent the day at the bar hanging out as a team and organization.
“We tried to do fun things that you probably don’t do if you don’t win the title.”
The partying, at least temporarily, has now stopped for Sydney as they focus on repeating their championship triumph in NBL23.
Buford and his coaching staff arrived at the Kings’ training base in Auburn in mid-July with one thought in mind: how do we climb the mountain again when it’s going to be even higher?
According to the Sydney mentor, simplicity will be the key to success.
“We have to live our lives in this beautiful world of simple habits that are repeated,” he said.
“We run similar drills and we’re probably more monotonously consistent with our defense than anyone in the league.
“If we do that, then we will live with the result at the other end.”
Buford also feels blessed to have more familiarity in his second season with Sydney.
Whereas last season he found himself constantly having to coach and teach, with little time to focus on building bigger plans.
“But now it is great to have half the team understand your terminology,” he said.
“Xavier (Cooks) is out there, and he is like a coach on the floor and I’m thinking, ‘this is great’.
“I’m excited in that respect, but I know we’ll have a target on our back this season and everyone is going to be gunning for us.
“That is going to be a fun challenge as well.
History has proven that winning consecutive NBL championships is not easy.
Only four teams have won back-to-back titles since the league’s inception in 1979.
Adelaide (98-99), Kings (2003, 04 and 05), New Zealand Breakers (11, 12, 13) and Perth twice in 2016/17 and 2019/20.
Buford is expecting the NBL season to be even closer this year after the league introduced an expanded six-team finals format.
He points out that teams like Adelaide and Brisbane have loaded up with talent in a bid to knock the Kings off their championship perch.
The NBL’s soft salary cap, which is set up to send money to the lower clubs if the higher clubs spend over the gap, will also play a significant role in deciding NBL23 according to Buford.
“Yes, there are teams that operate in bigger markets, but because of the salary ceiling, we all operate in a world that is similar,” he reasoned.
“It may not be the same, but it’s similar.
“So, if you are going to spend X amount of dollars, but spending X plus 10 percent gets you closer to the other guys, you do it.
“People get tired of losing, and I think we’ve seen that from a lot of teams. “They will spend as much as they can to compete.
“I know last year was not our biggest spending year in recent history. I think the Kings have spent much more in previous seasons and it has worked out for us.
“Now this season, Dejan Vasiljevic and Cooks had to be given more money, so we are in a different world this season.”
Originally published as How NBA master coach Gregg Popovich is helping the Sydney Kings chase consecutive titles
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