5
Feb
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'I love Melbourne': Phoenix King keen to stay long term
South East Melbourne Phoenix coach Josh King is the latest guest on Cut to the Jase.
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South East Melbourne Phoenix coach and arguably the leading candidate for NBL26 Coach of the Year Josh King has expressed his desire to stay at the club long term as ownership reportedly moves to try and lock in the charismatic mentor to a new contract.
King has turned the Phoenix into a powerhouse since arriving early into the NBL25 season, replacing Mike Kelly, with South East Melbourne currently in third place and just one win away from the Adelaide 36ers in top spot.
Speaking on the latest edition of Cut to the Jase with NBL legend Jason Cadee, King said he has loved his time in Melbourne.
"The chance to move to Melbourne to coach basketball and live in this part of the world is is amazing," he told basketball.com.au.
"I've got a young family, they love it, my wife loves it, they're at the museum right now. I just got the text message before on here, there's there's plenty of things to do.
"So, outside for take outside of basketball, it's amazing. Then the league is is really fun. It's a growing league and yeah, I've just enjoyed being at Southeast Melbourne and helping grow our club and and and hopefully we can continue to do that in the future."
In a league stacked with legendary coaches, including icons like Brian Goorjian, King also spoke about what it feels like to be in the conversation for Coach of the Year amongst some big names.
"It's flattering, I guess you could say, but in the end, it's not I don't care, but what it means to me is that it means you're coaching a good team because you don't get to be in those conversations if your team is not doing well," he said.
"Obviously, there's several other coaches in this league that are worthy of of getting coach of the year as well. But for me, it just means that I'm coaching a team that must be doing pretty well to be able to be in that conversation because you don't get to be up for that award if you're coaching a team that's not performing at the level."
The Phoenix have a big round ahead first taking on New Zealand on the road tonight followed by a blockbuster with the second-placed Sydney Kings at John Cain Arena on Sunday.
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