The "secret sauce" behind Sydney's success

As it stands, the Sydney Kings are the team to beat in NBL24. They may not be top of the ladder at the time of writing, but their back-to-back championships means they are firmly ahead of the chasing pack in their NBL24 title aspirations.

We’ve seen it across different leagues, teams, codes and sports, that when there’s one team that’s pushing itself ahead of the rest of the competition, other sides will inevitably try to take secrets and implement them into their own program.

Although he was sidelined for the NBL22 title triumph, Jordan Hunter played a key role in Sydney’s championship win last season, and the former Saint Mary’s Gael has also played a part in two separate March Madness campaigns prior to turning professional.

The 26-year-old believes the “secret sauce” to Sydney’s success is simpler than you think.

“I haven’t been outside of the Sydney Kings so I don’t know if I can exactly speak to what’s going on,” Hunter said on The Huddle. “I think we have the best front office going around, but again, I can’t compare it to anyone.

“They’re putting together teams that fit together really well, so when you have a bunch of new pieces coming in they want that basketball chemistry to work, but they also want them to step into the locker room and be great guys to be around.

“I think a lot of organisations are prioritising character as much as they are basketball smarts and basketball skill.

“It can maybe be underrated a little bit to have someone come in from the US or overseas and slide into an Australian culture and an Australian organisation and really fit in and gel with the other guys.”

Jordan Hunter’s recent success on the court this season has largely been met with praise from wider NBL circles – after all, Hunter is one of the notorious good guys in the Australian basketball landscape.

Although the new season is still young, he is currently putting together a career-best campaign – and the centre rotation between himself and Jonah Bolden looks primed to be one of the strongest in the competition’s recent years.

That ability for new players and coaches to settle into the system seemingly immediately is a group effort, according to Hunter, but he says he tries to help provide a point of difference off the court.

“I’m aware that I can maybe contribute some value, as I’m a bit of an odd duck sometimes so if I’m as comfortable in how strange I can be sometimes, or how forthcoming I can be, then it’ll hopefully break down someone’s shell as soon as they get here,” he said.

<iframe src="https://omny.fm/shows/nbl-podcasts/the-huddle-jordan-hunter-writing-my-own-story/embed?style=artwork" allow="autoplay; clipboard-write" width="100%" height="180" frameborder="0" title="The Huddle: Jordan Hunter - Writing My Own Story"></iframe>

“They know ‘I’m not going to be as weird as this dude, so I can be whoever I want to be and that’s going to be fine’.

“If you have people being who they are as soon as they get here they’re going to feel more comfortable, the group’s going to feel more comfortable.

“I’m probably going to contribute more on the belligerent weirdness direction, if that’s what I’ve got to do then I don’t know if I’m doing it deliberately as there is some programming going wrong, but I’ll do what I can.”

Hunter and the Kings are next in action on Sunday, October 22 at 4pm AEDT, live on ESPN via Kayo Freebies, and 10 Peach and 10play.