The Sydney Kings have signed former Los Angeles Lakers NBA point guard Steve Blake. Blake, 36, joins the Kings as a replacement for Michael Bryson, who was released on Friday after just four NBL games.
Blake will line up alongside power forward Josh Powell, who won championships with the Lakers in 2009 and 2010 but departed prior to Blake’s arrival in LA.
“He’s a very good player and extremely competitive,” Powell told Fox Sports News on Saturday. “It’s just good to have somebody that has that experience and leadership to go along with the guys in the group that we have. I look forward to it and I know everybody else does as well.”
Blake, who is expected to arrive in Sydney next week, played for eight teams during his 13-year NBA career, starting with the Washington Wizards and most recently suiting up for the Detroit Pistons. Coming off the bench, he averaged a career-high 7.6 assists and 3.8 rebounds per game in his final season with the Lakers in 2013.
Sydney, led by two-time MVP Kevin Lisch, have made a 3-1 start to the NBL season. The Kings will look to get more production from Blake than import guard Bryson, whose release followed scoreless games against Illawarra and the New Zealand Breakers.
“This decision was extremely difficult for the club to make,” Kings managing director Jeff Van Groningen said of the decision to dump Bryson. “But we considered our options with great care. We believe making this change will assist the team’s balance as we move forward this season.”
The Kings will host Illawarra in Sydney on Monday.
Comments (…)
Sign in or create your Guardian account to join the discussion