Kuol's huge role: From "broken" to battle ready

Going into the Hungry Jack's NBL25 season, there were high expectations placed on Kings recruit Bul Kuol after three strong seasons with the Cairns Taipans and a historic Olympic debut with South Sudan.

But unfortunately for the defensive dynamo, a knee injury derailed his NBL25 campaign. So much so, he had a limited workload at Sydney, restricted to weight sessions and playing on game day.

And while the start of his NBL26 campaign is off to somewhat of a slow start too, scoring five and three points respectively in matches against KK Partizan and Cairns, Kings coach Brian Goorjian has full faith that the 28-year-old will be back to his best very soon.

“I’m really excited about Bul now, because I can see he is starting to work at creating his own shot again at training, but last season he was broken,” six-time NBL champion Goorjian told CODE Sports.

“He couldn’t even bend his knee to shoot, so he had no skill development or practice and he just sat and watched, [but] now he is getting in those hours of skill work and while it hasn’t correlated to the game yet, I know it’s coming.

“He is also starting to do some things off the bounce at practice that he hasn’t been able to do in the two years he has been with us. He is going to play a huge role in where we go this season.”

Kuol was the NBL Rookie of the Year in 2022, while at the Taipans.

Goorjian, Kuol and the Kings host New Zealand at Qudos Bank Arena from 5.30pm AEST on Saturday, broadcast live on ESPN.

Read the full story here >> Kings play patient game with marquee Bul Kuol amid shooting and injury struggles