A $1m signing should have saved this NBL side. It only made the faceplant worse.<\/a><\/p>\nChaudhari, who lives in the United States, recently visited Melbourne and broke from his usual routine to address the group directly.<\/p>\n
\u201cI never go in the locker room to talk to the coaches and players, but this last time I was in Melbourne recently, I took time to express the belief I have in the team, both players and coaches, and that it has been a privilege to be a witness of their journeys,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
King is contracted through the end of the 2026\u201327 season, but Chaudhari made it clear he hopes the partnership continues well beyond that.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs far as his contract goes, I consider Josh a friend, and we mutually want to be in this together for the foreseeable future,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe want him to be our coach for as long as we each feel we can keep having a positive impact across the club, and for as long as he is happy and wanting to be here as well.\u201d<\/p>\n
A new deal is expected to be discussed in due course. What is already clear is that King has earned the trust of the organisation and is well placed to lead the Phoenix into their next chapter.<\/p>\n
South East Melbourne Phoenix Head Coach Josh King (Photo by Graham Denholm\/Getty Images)Source: Getty Images<\/p>\n
With the head coaching position trending towards stability, the Phoenix have also turned their attention to debutant import John Brown III. The 34-year-old is in the midst of an outstanding first season in the NBL and is widely regarded as the frontrunner for this year\u2019s Defensive Player of the Year award.<\/p>\n
That recognition comes as little surprise. Brown III has previously won Defensive Player of the Year honours in Russia (2021) and France (2024). While his offensive numbers may not jump off the stat sheet, his true value lies in the work that often goes unnoticed. His defensive presence, positioning, and leadership consistently lift those around him.<\/p>\n
Owner Romie Chaudhari said there is mutual interest in a long-term arrangement, though the immediate focus remains on closing out the regular season strongly.<\/p>\n
\u201cJB\u2019s contribution has been fantastic this season and I know the team will work together with him and his agent to explore something long term, given there is a mutual interest to do so,\u201d Chaudhari said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI can say he\u2019s added great value to the team on court and off, 100%. For now, we are all focused on finishing off the season with the remaining two games and setting ourselves up for a strong finals run.\u201d<\/p>\n
If the Phoenix can secure both King and Brown III on multi-year deals, the foundation is there for sustained contention and a genuine championship window.<\/p>\n
John Brown of the Phoenix reacts during the round 19 NBL match between Adelaide 36ers and South East Melbourne Phoenix at Adelaide Entertainment Centre, on January 31, 2026, in Adelaide, Australia. (Photo by Sarah Reed\/Getty Images)Source: Getty Images<\/p>\n
Get all the latest basketball news, highlights and analysis delivered straight to your inbox with Fox Sports Sportmail. Sign up now!!!<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"With just two rounds remaining before attention turns to the NBL finals, the South East Melbourne Phoenix are…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":473043,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[574],"tags":[64,63,726,85],"class_list":["post-473042","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-basketball","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-basketball","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/473042","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=473042"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/473042\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/473043"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=473042"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=473042"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=473042"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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