‘Daddy Kuol’ strolls into spotlight

Wednesday night's Ignite Cup clash between the Sydney Kings and Adelaide 36ers looms as a blockbuster.

The hosts at the AIS Arena fixture head into the clash full of confidence following road wins against Perth and Melbourne. A big part of those victories was the play of defensive dynamo Bul Kuol.

The 2024 Paris Olympian shut down both Perth's Kristian Doolittle and Melbourne's Chris Goulding in Round 12.

The former was held to just five points, on 2/10 from the field, in Perth's 29-point loss to Sydney, before the South Sudanese international restricted Australian Boomer Goulding to just eight points, on 3/12 shooting (including 0/8 from downtown).

While the defensive stud largely lets his play do the talking, reigning NBL Sixth Man of the Year Kouat Noi has shown his Kings teammate some love with a cheeky meme, featuring both Goulding and Doolittle in a pram, on his own Instagram channel.

"I’d expect them to do the same thing if we lost. It’s never personal, it’s just the entertainment business," Noi told CODE Sports about the photo.

“You’ve got to go out there, make people laugh, make it interesting, and then go out there and back it up.”

Bul Kuol is a $195,300 guard in the NBL’s official fantasy game, Beat The Coach, presented by Choice Hotels. Take on Damon Lowery and Beat the Coach in any round of the NBL26 Season and you’ll receive an entry into the end-of-season $10,000 prize draw, including $5,000 cash and $5,000 in Choice Hotels™ gift vouchers. Sign up to play now here.

Now Kuol will set his sights on his next target, five-time NBL MVP Bryce Cotton.

The first matchup between these two went to Kuol, who restricted Cotton to a season-low seven points in Round 4, as the Kings won 103-79.

If the Canberra native, who will no doubt embrace playing in front of his family and friends, can restrict the three-time champion to a similar scoring output, it will go a long way to securing the Kings their third straight win and ending Adelaide's seven-game win streak.

“This [Adelaide] is the best team in the league and they’re on top of the ladder for a reason,” Noi said.

“We’re just going out there, like we didn’t win two games [last round]. It’s going to be a tough matchup, and we’re really looking forward to the competition.”

Wednesday's fixture tips off at 7.30pm AEDT, live on ESPN.

Read the full story here >> King Kouat: The Entertainer