He is finally back in Australia after visa complications delayed his arrival, but reigning Finals MVP Kendric Davis returns to a somewhat new-look roster unfazed by league experts predicting Adelaide to win it all this season.
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Instead, his focus remains firmly on helping the Sydney Kings go back-to-back.
Speaking to Fox Sports Australia, the Kings star import, who recently re-signed with the club on a two-year deal, leaves little on the table when it comes to his opinions.
Davis’ voice carries plenty of weight around the NBL, and when asked about the Kings once again being overlooked by many pundits, he was no different.
“Last year we had zero votes of winning a championship,” Davis said. “We [Sydney] all thought we were going to win it, even at 3-5, so we’re not looking at what we lost, we’re looking at what we gained.”
Despite eventually winning the championship during the 2025-26 season, the Kings faced their fair share of criticism following a slow start before finding their rhythm and finishing atop the league with a 24-9 record.
Before the start of last season, not one of the NBL.com’s 14 experts predicted Sydney to win the championship. The panel, which featured names including Andrew Gaze, Derek Rucker, Felix Von Hofe, Olgun Uluc and Lanard Copeland, instead backed Adelaide (four votes), Melbourne (three), Illawarra (three), Perth (three) and Tasmania (one).
Now, with a new season comes another round of predictions, and they have once again sparked debate, with Sydney receiving no championship selections from the 14 voters.
“Who were they predicting to win the championship last year?” Davis said.
When reminded it was Adelaide who received the most votes from the experts last season, Davis didn’t mince his words.
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“Well they’re not experts then if they ain’t getting sh** right,” he said.
Davis only landed back in Australia three days ago following a lengthy delay due to passport issues, which saw him miss the entirety of the NBL Blitz in Bendigo. He is also yet to play a single second of pre-season basketball.
CODE Sports first revealed that Davis’ return to Australia had been delayed by an unexpected passport issue, with the American originally expected to arrive in Sydney weeks earlier to begin pre-season training.
At the time, a Kings spokesperson described the problem as an “administration issue that we are working through as quickly as we can”, with club officials hopeful Davis would arrive in Sydney last week.
Now, despite the less-than-ideal timing of his arrival, Davis can officially begin the Kings’ journey towards going back-to-back, with the reigning Finals MVP linking up with several new faces on the roster ahead of their season opener.
Despite seeing several championship-winning players depart, including Jaylin Galloway, Kouat Noi, Tim Soares and Shaun Bruce, Davis does not view the changes as the Kings simply losing talent.
Instead, he insists the new additions, combined with the championship DNA that remains within the group, give Sydney every chance of going back-to-back.
“When you say we lost players, it means we took a step back. We don’t think we took a step back, we just signed new players.”
The Kings have added plenty of fresh, young talent, including Jayden Stone, Will Johnston, import Andrew Carr and big man Harry Wessels. While the group may lack experience at NBL level, Davis believes the talent is there.
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“Everybody has got their own role. It’ll be a different role this year. Just not with familiar faces. I think when they’re not familiar faces and you don’t know what to expect, you kind of doubt.
“But we have enough championship DNA, enough pedigree and the players that are coming in got enough talent to fill in whatever we need.
“So we coming into this season with the same expectations we had last year.”
For Davis, who has been battling six-time MVP Bryce Cotton in one of the league’s best individual rivalries in recent years, the ultimate goal remains another championship.
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Everything else, including the MVP award he missed out on by just two votes last season, will come naturally if the team succeeds.
Davis insists he is not chasing individual accolades.
“No, I don’t chase. I don’t chase nothing. I’m just playing basketball and if it happens to be in my reach, I want it, but I don’t go into the season like, ‘hey, I want to do this. I want to do that.’ I just expect greatness and that’s it. That for me, that’s greatness.”
For the 27-year-old, the focus remains on his team and maintaining the standard he has set for himself.
“I want to win every game and be great doing it and make sure my teammates be great also doing it.
“And if at the end of the year you look up and I’m in the MVP, of course I want it, but I’m not chasing that more than a championship,” he said.
“That’s my standard. I wouldn’t take nothing less than my standard for myself.”
The Sydney Kings begin their championship defence this Sunday at Afterpay Arena against the Cairns Taipans at 5:00PM AEST.