Luc Longley laughs when recounting how the Sydney Kings almost stuffed the recruitment of Matthew Dellavedova.
The scene was a meeting last year in which the Kings were pitching a future in Sydney to Dellavedova, and it was a heavyweight room. Three guys in it had NBA championship rings – Longley, fellow Kings co-owner Andrew Bogut and “Delly”. Also present was hall of fame coach Brian Goorjian, with his six NBL titles.
“Where he [Dellavedova] was in his career and where our team was, it was a natural fit,” Longley says.
“We needed what he brings. So part of our pitch was we could nurse his body and get a bit more out of him. We wouldn’t flog him, we wouldn’t push him too hard, we would look after him.
“And we nearly lost him in that moment because he looked at us and said, ‘f— that’. We nearly fumbled it. He’s 35, but he didn’t want to hear that at all. He was like, ‘No you guys, hang on, wait, you’re selling me short. I’m here to get better’.
“To me, that was one of the greatest recruiting moments I’ve ever been involved in.”
All the Kings’ men had been around Dellavedova for years at national level, so they weren’t entirely surprised. But having promised not to include a pipe and slippers with his Kings uniform, Dellavedova agreed to the deal.
Fast forward a season and the Sydney Kings tonight play Adelaide in game one of the NBL championship series. After finishing fifth in the previous two seasons, the Kings have re-emerged as one of the NBL’s powerhouse franchises in 2025-26, and if you ask anyone involved for the reason, they all point to the same guy: Dellavedova.
Dellavedova doesn’t dominate in any stat categories, but his leadership and influence in turning the Kings back into a championship outfit is hailed by players, owners, coaches and fans alike.
“I can’t speak highly enough of the bloke,” Kings co-owner Paul Smith says. “It’s just the intangibles, the qualities you just can’t fake.
“It’s on court, but it’s also not on court. It’s his commitment and professionalism, leadership, the whole package. He helps drive belief in the team and belief in each other. And that’s why we’ve got to where we are.”
Goorjian adds: “I was with a lot of these guys last year and I knew they’re really, really good people. But it was cloudy. But the version I’m seeing of them this year, they’re the best versions of themselves because Delly is setting the tone. Including myself.”
It’s heady praise indeed, and particularly for an unfashionable player who sharply polarised opinion in a long career that included nine seasons in the NBA, four Olympic Games and now has him in his third year back in the NBL.
Years after he left the NBA, Dellavedova still pops up as a topic in NBA podcasts due to his unique style. Golden State Warriors forward and professional loudmouth Draymond Green said last year that Dellavedova “completely stinks” as a player.
The context was Green arguing that LeBron James trumps Michael Jordan as the GOAT because he won an NBA title in 2016 with Dellavedova as a teammate.
“Well, Jordan won titles with me, mate, so that neutralises that f—ing argument,” Longley says.
“It’s easy to villainise a guy that beat you in a championship you should have won. Look, he [Dellavedova] is not everyone’s cup of tea. And in the NBA, guys don’t like playing with that level of intensity and abandon. It’s not popular. It’s not something guys do.
“Delly has got super high basketball IQ. Let’s not underplay that. But that intensity was his career. And he excelled at it.”
Longley first noticed Dellavedova when the country kid from Victoria began making waves as a guard for St Marys in US College basketball, and then followed his progress after moving into the NBA with Cleveland in 2013. He’d gone undrafted but impressed the Cavs so much with his relentless work rate in training and the summer league that the young Aussie won a contract.
Though not blessed with the same silky skills as many NBA stars, Dellavedova’s cult status grew quickly among fans with his tenacious defence, fearless attitude and a willingness to dive on a loose ball like it was a bobbling Sherrin.
That fame peaked when the Cavs made the 2015 NBA finals, and Dellavedova shut down superstar shooter Steph Curry in a game two win. Two days later, he scored 20 points in a game three win. The Warriors later won the title, but Dellavedova’s blue-collar legend was secured among Cavs fans when it emerged he’d been hospitalised with exhaustion after game three.
“Delly almost died guarding Steph Curry,” former Cavs teammate JR Smith said in a 2023 podcast.
“Just from watching that, Dellavedova is, by far, one of my greatest people I like of all time. He literally gave everything he had.”
Longley first linked up with Dellavedova when he became Boomers assistant coach in 2013.
“At that point I’d seen a lot of basketball and been around a lot of basketball. I’d heard about the kid and I knew about the intensity. But up close, it was something different to what I had ever seen. And even in the NBA, I hadn’t really seen anyone with that level of myopic focus and intensity,” Longley says.
Now let’s take a minute here to remind ourselves of the rollcall of NBA icons Longley played with at the Chicago Bulls between 1994 and 1998; names like Jordan, Scottie Pippen and Dennis Rodman. It is a significant statement.
“I can say honestly I’ve never been around anyone that’s played with as much intensity, fire, competitive drive,” Longley says. “He has an insatiable desire to look after his body … until he gets on the court. Then he seems to have an insatiable desire to destroy it.”
Since returning to Australia in 2023, Dellavedova has leaned into the leadership that comes with being a senior, experienced player.
“I think what Brian’s talking about is that he holds people to account,” Longley says.
”I remember at one point he had a difficult conversation with Xavier [Cooks] about something, and when I asked Xavier about it, he said, ‘That guy doesn’t even blink’.
“He locks eye contact and gets the truth. He’s going to demand it, because you’re going to get it back from him, too. You can’t be around that without adopting some of it.
“Some people lead with their practice habits, some lead with their voices, some people lead by sort of seizing the moment and demonstrating. Other people pretend to lead and don’t live up to it.
“You see guys who’ve been very busy with their voices, but it’s hollow because there’s no action behind it. But Delly manages to hit them all. I respect him for it.”
Dellavedova’s move to the Kings was primarily driven by one thing: his desperate pursuit of an NBL title. In the past two seasons, he played in two losing grand final series with Melbourne United.
Last year, Dellavedova even won the grand final series MVP, but in a moment that went viral, he declared the award should have gone to Illawarra’s Will Hickey and turned boos into cheers by walking over and giving him the trophy.
“People say you have to go through losing a semi-final or a final,” Goorjian says. “He’s been through all that shit. He doesn’t need it. He came here to win a championship.”
Longley reckons there are only two camps of people when it comes to Dellavedova. There’s no guessing which one Green belongs.
“If you don’t love Delly, it’s because you don’t understand him.”
