Buford Places NBA Aspirations on the Backburner

NBA aspirations in Australian basketball aren’t limited to the players of the NBL. They extend all the way through an organisation – and that includes the head coaches.

Chase Buford is currently preparing to take his Sydney Kings side to its second Championship Series in his two seasons at the helm. He’s helped take a club that was so close, yet so far from the ultimate success to the promised land.

In the three seasons prior to his arrival, finished third, first and fifth.

Buford has gained previous experience within the NBA realm at the Chicago Bulls, before adding G-League coaching experience with the Erie BayHawks and Delaware Blue Coats as an assistant, before leading the Wisconsin Herd from 2019-2021.

RELATED: The NBL's G-League Connection

“I thought this was a great opportunity when the opportunity presented itself to talk to the ownership, and learn about the league and what a competitive league it was,” Buford told SEN.

“It seemed like a great opportunity to grow as a coach. That was my biggest focused, to come down here and learn and grow.

“Our staff – Kevin Lisch, Fleur McIntyre, Daniel Kickert, all the way down is just a pleasure to work with.

“At the end of the day you want to play at the highest level and coach at the highest level, so one day I would like to get back to the NBA, but right now I’m just loving being a head coach and loving living in Sydney.

“I’m just fired up for the Finals and focused on that.”

Across all sports there’s a trend emerging of young head coaches gaining success without ever having played the game at the highest level.

In the NBA the likes of Boston’s Joe Mazzulla, Memphis’ Taylor Jenkins and Cleveland’s and J.B. Bickerstaff are flying the flag. In the NBL it’s Buford, Mody Maor, Jacob Jackomas and newly announced Brisbane coach Justin Schueller.

Buford says he caught the coaching bug early.

“When I was growing up I’d go to the UT (University of Tennessee) basketball camps all the time, and my brother played there so I was always really close with the coaching staff,” he reflected.

“They always tell a story of when I was about 10 years old and we were in the camp finals.

“I had our team running sets in the hallway getting ready.

“I guess it’s been there for a long time.”

Buford will look to take out his second NBL championship in this season’s series. The best of five series against the Breakers tips off on Friday, March 3.