"Blowtorching the League": Why experts love Davis' bravado

Sydney Kings star Kendric Davis, who arrived back into Australia late due to 'passport issues', has well and truly made up for lost time recently.

Since arriving back in Sydney, the Hungry Jack's NBL26 Championship Series MVP hasn't backed down from any question about his team or individuals around the League.

He first fired shots at the NBL 'experts' saying "they ain't getting sh** right" in relation to last season's and this season's predictions.

The American then explained that Melbourne recruit and NBA talent Cole Anthony would be gunning for him, as 'this is his League now'.

Fellow point guard and 1990 NBL MVP Derek Rucker loves Davis' confidence and the fact he's embracing a new role around the League.

"He brought a blowtorch with him on the plane; I don't know how that was allowed," Rucker said on NBL Now, presented by CODE Sports.

"He's just set everyone alight. [The] media, Cole Anthony, anybody he wants to talk about, he has been talking about it.

"He's not shying away from any questions. I love it. This is one of the endearing features about Kendric Davis is his honesty. But also, he's establishing himself as the villain.

"Bryce [Cotton] is kind of the one that everyone looks to and holds to a high standard as the good guy.

"[Now] the villain is Kendric Davis, and he's embracing the role, whether or not it's his intent.

"It's great for the League; it's great for us to discuss it.

"Full shouts to Kendric for being honest and just being authentic and who he is."

Another narrative surrounding the NBL26 champion is his supposed desire for individual accolades.

Davis, who has finished second to Cotton in the past two MVP counts, was quite vocal about not winning last year's top individual prize, but recently told Fox Sports team success is far more important to him.

"No, I don't chase [individual awards]. 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," Davis told foxsports.com.au.

"I want to win every game and be great doing it and make sure my teammates be great also doing it. 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.

"That's my standard. I wouldn't take nothing less than my standard for myself."

Dual Olympian Mark Worthington doesn't buy that narrative, backing Davis' unrelenting confidence.

"He wants the MVP, let's be honest here," Worthington said on NBL Now.

"I know he'd love another championship as well, but he wants the MVP.

"He wants it to be known. When you make the statement, 'this is my time now', you're stating what you want.

"He wants to be the face of the League, he wants to be the name of the League.

"As Australians, we become so desensitized in the media, in how athletes respond to a lot of things.

"For someone to have opinions, it's great because it gets people talking at the end of the day.

"We saw at the end of NBL26, the debate about Kendric and Bryce and what that meant to Kendric. It just put more eyeballs onto the NBL at the end of the day, so what he's doing is not a bad thing.

"But, if he's saying that he's not playing for the MVP, I'd be shocked."

Rucker echoed Worthington's sentiments, saying Davis' personality is great for the League.

"It's rare nowadays where we get an athlete like Kendric Davis who is willing to go out and put himself out there like this," Rucker said.

"Nowadays, everyone is so polished, everyone is so manicured in terms of their media profile. That's not Kendric. That's not who he is.

"He's bringing it at you. He's letting you know exactly how he feels. He's attacked me several times, but I get it. I know who he is, and I respect who he is.

"The bottom line is he's an exceptional talent and he's got a championship."

Davis and his Kings open their championship defence on Sunday, September 20 against Cairns at Afterpay Arena, live on ESPN from 5pm AEST.