Perth Wildcats import Kristian Doolittle says he will never forgive the Sydney Kings for costing him a championship last season and he’ll use that grudge as motivation during Saturday’s game at Afterpay Arena.
The Kings are the reigning NBL champions after sweeping the Wildcats in the semifinals and then beating Adelaide in a thrilling grand final series. While Perth lost both games to the Kings, they fell just one point short of a dramatic upset in the first match of the best-of-three series. Victory would have given the Wildcats the chance to play for a spot in the grand final on their home court.
Doolittle said that result would be at the front of his mind all week, even if many of his teammates didn’t have the same level of angst or weren’t on the roster last year and didn’t experience the pain of defeat.
“I hold grudges,” he said.
“But how I feel is not how the team feels. So personally, any team that stops you from getting a championship, essentially I’ll never forgive them.
“We understand that they were the champions last year and they they beat us two games last year. So as a team, I feel like anybody would have, not a grudge against the team that knocked them out of the playoffs, but they would definitely remember the team that stopped them from reaching the championship.
“I feel like my how I approach things is what makes me different than everybody. So it’s not about who’s right or who’s wrong. It’s just that’s just how I feel about it.”
The Kings lost their first game of the season last weekend when Bryce Cotton’s Adelaide 36ers upset them on their home court, while the Wildcats are enjoying a our-game winning streak.
Saturday’s game will be Doolittle’s 100th as a Wildcat and he admits his life could have looked dramatically different if not for a sliding doors moment in September 2023. The American had signed to play in France before getting dumped before that season began, and he seized upon the chance to move to Australia and play for the Wildcats.
“I never anticipated being here in Australia,” he said.
“Things work in mysterious ways and so I feel like it’s been a blessing in disguise that one opportunity closed and another one opened up.
“It’s the only home that my my child has known. It’s where he’s grown up, and so that adds an element of home to it. We have a long-term home here, so not having to empty out your place every year is a benefit. It saves on luggage and travel prices and stuff like that. But just being able to come home to something familiar definitely helps.”
* Meanwhile, Perth Lynx have signed WA teenager Reece Anticevic to an amateur contract just days before the start of the season. Anticevic has been plying her trade at the Centre of Excellence in Canberra and will now get to achieve her WNBL dream.