Bayles Blessed to Live the Dream Representing Sydney with Kings

Written for nbl.com.au by Chris Pike

Rookie Biwali Bayles was proud to be part of the Sydney Kings' turnaround in Round 3 of #NBL22 but in the bigger picture, he is excited to be representing both his hometown and Indigenous culture every day that he pulls on the purple and gold.

Having decided against pursuing his college career after a season at the University of Hawaii on the back of a decorated underage career, Bayles signed with his hometown Kings for the 2021/22 season and he has already grabbed the opportunities presented.

With Kings imports RJ Hunter and Jaylen Adams struggling with early season injuries, the 19-year-old rookie has been entrusted by coach Chase Buford to play almost 18 minutes a game across the first three rounds while putting up 7.0 points and 2.3 assists.

He has not only shown he is a capable NBL player already, but an excitement machine and someone who can help push the pace and be a difference maker for the Kings, but there's much more to him than what you see on the floor on game day.

Bayles grew up in the inner-city Sydney suburb of Redfern of which he sports a tattoo with the postcode 2016, and while it wasn’t an easy upbringing, he dreamed of playing professional basketball and is proud of where he came from – and where he has already got to.

To not only be representing Redfern on the big stage but also to be leading the next generation of Indigenous basketball and providing a shining light of what's possible to those looking up to him is something that Bayles takes seriously – showing a maturity beyond his teenage years.

"It's exciting to see the Aboriginal players coming through and you are even seeing a lot more coming through in the juniors," Bayles said.

"It's just great to see that happening and seeing them on the right path. That's exciting for me and for our community, and our culture. I used to look up to guys obviously like Patty Mills and see the platform that they were on with all the stuff they would be doing. 

"I'm obviously not on the same platform as Patty, but to have my own little platform where kids can look up to me as well is a dream come true for sure."

Another aspect of Bayles' journey to the Kings that has him excited and still pinching himself is that he's getting to start his NBL journey knowing that Melbourne United development player Will 'Davo' Hickey is doing similar after they grew up together.

"Man, it's crazy that we grew up together in Redfern, Waterloo and to see where we are now. We know each other's struggles and to see that we are both now in the league is honestly a dream come true," he said.

"We used to talk about it all the time as kids growing up so seeing that happen now and matching up against him, gives me goosebumps. Just knowing the area we come from, people are proud of us and seeing each other do well is a blessing you know."

Not only does Bayles feel blessed to be providing a shining light for the next generation of Indigenous kids, but for the people who come from an upbringing like him in a place like Redfern and for the city of Sydney overall.

He is still pinching himself that he is actually playing in front of big crowds at Qudos Bank Arena in front of his people in the NBL.

"I'm telling you, every home game so far has given me goosebumps. I swear it feels like every time I run out there that it's the first time doing it," Bayles said.

"That's one of the biggest blessings is having friends and family being able to come and watch me play, and for me to play for my hometown team. 

"Not many people get that opportunity so it's definitely something I'm grateful for and I don’t take it lightly. I look at it every day and feel blessed to be doing this. It's just great, man. The crowd is great and I obviously love the city, and to represent it."

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">BIG bucket from Biwali Bayles.<br><br>The <a href="https://twitter.com/SydneyKings?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@SydneyKings</a> rookie stepping up in the final term.<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NBL22?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NBL22</a> on <a href="https://twitter.com/ESPNAusNZ?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@ESPNAusNZ</a> and <a href="https://twitter.com/kayosports?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@kayosports</a> ? <a href="https://t.co/qOCNbw1gNR">pic.twitter.com/qOCNbw1gNR</a></p>&mdash; The NBL (@NBL) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBL/status/1472118017785876481?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 18, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Bayles was always confident he would get some court time this NBL season as a rookie, but his role ha perhaps even surpassed his expectations both through opportunity with injuries to imports Adams and Hunter, but also through him provide he deserves he minutes.

Now that he is getting used to the physicality of the NBL as he plays professionally against men for the first time, he wants to keep grabbing his chances and being that spark for the Kings out on the floor.

"I think a lot of other people will tell you this too, the league is a lot more physical than anything else I've played. Even just at training, everyone's more physical and the whole physicality of the league is so high," Bayles said.

"Obviously I'm still learning how to manage the game speed and being a point guard that is important, but I'm still learning in my first year and the thing that stands out for me the most is how physical it is. It's a lot different.

"I felt like I was always going to play a little bit no matter what, but it's been real good to get the opportunity. I know there's a lot of other young guys around the league who don't really get the chance to play the amount of minutes that I am, so for me I'm just trying to take the opportunities that coach is giving me. 

"Then whenever my name is called I'm trying to just go out there and bring that energy, and make an impact and do whatever the team needs to win. I want to keep trying to make the most of the opportunity and hopefully keep getting better and better."

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="hi" dir="ltr">Biwali has THAT <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/WeTheKings?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#WeTheKings</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NBL22?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NBL22</a> <a href="https://t.co/hnliYN8oVA">pic.twitter.com/hnliYN8oVA</a></p>&mdash; Sydney Kings (@SydneyKings) <a href="https://twitter.com/SydneyKings/status/1472102200079892484?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 18, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Ask any player at the Kings about the thing they have loved the most about new coach Chase Buford already and it's the fact that he likes to get out on the floor with them, and mix it up at practice.

Bayles is no different but he is enjoying learning even more from former two-time league MVP, championship winner, Grand Final MVP and 237-game star Kevin Lisch who is his assistant coach and probably just about still in game shape.

"Kev's my guy, man. All the coaches do get into it on the floor with him, Kicks and coach Chase, they all like getting out there with us and scrip and scrap," he said.

"That's good because you like coaches like that and for me that shows that they want to get out there and help you. Kev, especially, is my guy and we do a lot of film and everything together. 

"Obviously having a two-time MVP on your side can only help so I'm just trying to learn what I can from him."

As for more pressing matters, there was some true soul searching to do at the Kings following last Thursday's 42-point loss in Melbourne to United where the team set all sorts of unwanted records.

As bad as that was, the true test of any team's character is how they respond to a poor performance.

To say the Kings passed with flying colours would be a great understatement with them hitting back on Saturday to hand the South East Melbourne Phoenix their first loss of the #NBL22 season.

It was a bounce back performance that Bayles was rightfully proud to be part of.

"It was a good way to bounce back against one of the top teams in the league. Our feeling is still the same regardless if we win or lose, but that United game was just a wake up call about how we've got to go into every game," he said.

"I don’t want to say we were complacent, but United started so well and that game just woke us up a bit by the end of it to know how we have to come out every game.

"I feel like that's what our team is about and I think we showed our true character against Phoenix. What we are going to be doing all this season is that type of play and no matter what if we win or lose, we will just play hard. 

"If we lose, we'll bounce back even stronger and it was a good win for us to show what we are made of."

As for how the Kings did bounce back from perhaps the worst performance in franchise history to show their quality to beat the Phoenix despite still missing two of their imports, for Bayles he felt it was all about getting back to what they knew they wanted to stand for.

"We just really tried to flush the Melbourne game as quick as possible, but also remember that feeling of being embarrassed with that performance," Bayles said.

"As far as I know, none of us have felt like that or been smacked like that before, so we didn’t want to forget that feeling of not wanting to go through that again. We just tried to flush it but store it away and then come out to just play how we play in the next game. 

"We wanted to tidy ourselves up, focus on executing mainly with our defence because United did to us what we are trying to create as our identity which is trying to punk other teams, being physical, blowing stuff up and taking teams out of the game. 

"That's what we are trying to do and we just wanted to sharpen up our offence but be real physical on defence."

While all the for the Kings and Bayles right now is on hosting the Tasmania JackJumpers at Qudos Bank Arena on Wednesday night, they also can't wait for the chance at revenge on Melbourne on Boxing Day.

"I can speak for all of us when I say we can't wait. We kind of proved ourselves when we responded against Phoenix, but now we can't wait to prove ourselves again on the 26th against that same team," Bayles said.

"Everyone's really excited and ready to go. We don’t pay a lot of attention to it, but you can't help but see a little bit of the stuff on the internet and this and that what people are saying, so now we just can't wait to get back out there and shut some people up."