Vasiljevic moves on from Kings drama

Wednesday, January 10, 2024

Despite the war of words earlier this season, Adelaide 36ers star Dejan Vasiljevic is looking past any precieved drama between him and former club Sydney Kings ahead of Thursday night's clash.

Star Adelaide 36ers guard Dejan Vasiljevic is ignoring the drama and noise leading into tonight’s highly anticipated clash with his former club the Sydney Kings.

Vasiljevic returned to the NBL in October to play for the 36ers after attempting to chase his NBA dream with the Washington Wizards. The Kings, who held his rights of first refusal, declared they were “disappointed” with how the process of Vasiljevic's return played out, which led to the two-time champion claiming they were making him look like a “villain”.

A Summer League roster spot and Exhibit-10 training contract came Vasiljevic's way after a successful NBL23 title-winning campaign with Sydney, but he elected to return to the NBL following being waived by the Wizards.

Despite the war of words that took place, Vasiljevic insists he has the “highest respect” for Sydney and is only focused on tonight’s game, not the surrounding storylines.

“Everyone wants to create someone sort of drama, but we’ve just got to move forward…I just want to continue playing my sort of basketball and they can continue theirs,” Vasiljevic told Newscorp.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-media-max-width="560"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">DJ will face his former side for the first time on Thursday night ?<br><br>NBL analyst <a href="https://twitter.com/DamonLowery8?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@DamonLowery8</a> expects things to be heated between the two ?<br><br>Read more: <a href="https://t.co/7mWCoYHxUZ">https://t.co/7mWCoYHxUZ</a> <a href="https://t.co/q4CWeUe9IE">pic.twitter.com/q4CWeUe9IE</a></p>— NBL (@NBL) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBL/status/1744584652889985174?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 9, 2024</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

It looms as a vital game for both teams, with Adelaide looking to cause another upset after defeating Melbourne United last week, while the two-time defending champion Kings are out to break a form slump that’s seem them lose four of their past five outings.

Tip-off between the Sixers and Kings is 7:30pm AEDT tonight, live on ESPN via Kayo.

Read the full story here via Newscorp >> Crosscourt column: Sharpshooter Dejan Vasiljevic on NBL future, facing the Kings for the first time and his Olympic dream