'Far from over': Goorjian backs Davis in MVP battle

Brian Goorjian had deliberately stayed out of the NBL MVP debate. But when Mike Wells declared the race over, he felt he had no choice but to respond.

The Sydney Kings coach launched a strong defence of Kendric Davis, making it clear the battle for the Andrew Gaze Trophy is far from decided.

As Davis has lifted his play throughout NBL26, the MVP conversation has grown louder. Goorjian had been careful not to fuel it, preferring to keep his focus elsewhere. That changed after Wells claimed Bryce Cotton had the award locked up following his 42-point match-winner against New Zealand on Saturday.

Davis answered in the best possible way on Sunday.

In Sydney’s 102–84 win over Perth, he delivered 30 points, 10 assists and five rebounds in just 32 minutes, shooting 11-of-17 from the field and 6-of-9 from three. The performance pushed the Kings to a 10-game winning streak and kept them on top of the ladder.

Goorjian may not have wanted to enter the conversation, but after Wells’ comments, he stepped up firmly in support of his point guard, declaring the MVP race very much alive.

“I was taken aback by it and I don’t want to get into this because this has kind of put me in a position after yesterday listening, and I've gotta bring my guy into this,” Goorjian said.

“There was such a strong push but in our mind, we started this season and no one had us in the top four coming in and what's happened? We have a chance as we sit right now today, we're on top of the ladder, we've played them (Adelaide) four times and beaten them three.

“He's (Davis) having a season that goes down in Sydney Kings' history as one of the best individual performances of any player to put on this uniform, and then this whole aspect of him as a leader and him as a person all of that came across as well.”

Goorjian still doesn’t feel entirely comfortable framing Davis through an MVP lens. His focus remains on winning a championship with him running the team at point guard. But he made it clear he wasn’t going to let the moment pass without backing his player.

He’s defended Davis in-game all season. Now he’s doing it publicly.

And the numbers leave little room for doubt. Davis is averaging 24.2 points, 6.7 assists and 4.0 rebounds, shooting 47 per cent from the field and 35 per cent from three across the season.

That form has gone to another level during Sydney’s 10-game winning streak.

Across that stretch, Davis is averaging 25.7 points, 8.8 assists and 3.7 rebounds, shooting 53 per cent from the field and 40 per cent from three.

“He's ticked a lot of boxes and when I do this, I feel uncomfortable with it, but I look at the guys on the team as my sons, and no it's not over,” Goorjian said.

“We have a chance to finish on top, we're still playing and nobody has voted yet and he's had an unbelievable season.

“I don't want to do this, but I want it known that it's not over and we wouldn’t trade Kendric for anybody and we're having a stellar regular season so he is definitely in the mix and he's definitely special.”

Goorjian might not enjoy stepping into the MVP debate, but his message was clear. The race isn’t decided. The Kings are still winning. And in his eyes, Davis remains right at the heart of it.