Sydney Kings announce former NBA forward Josh Childress

In what ranks as one of the biggest signings in the history of the National Basketball League, the MightyMite Sydney Kings are proud to announce that former NBA star Josh Childress will play for the team in the 2014/2015 NBL season.

The 31 year old Childress had an excellent NBA career, playing 391 games for four clubs and earning a nod as starter in 70 of those contests, marking him as the most experienced NBA player ever to set foot on these shores.

After a stellar three year career at Stanford University, where he won the Pac-10 Conference Player of the Year and was named an Associated Press First Team All American, Childress was drafted by the Atlanta Hawks with the sixth pick of the first round in the 2004 NBA draft – the highest a Stanford player has ever been drafted.

As a rookie, Josh was named to the NBA All-Rookie Second Team after producing 10.1 points and six rebounds per game while shooting 47% from the field and 82% from the free throw line.

He spent four highly productive seasons with the Hawks, averaging double figure points in each of those seasons.

The 203cm (6’8”) 95kg (210lb) small forward then accepted a massive offer to play in the powerful Greek league – becoming the highest-profile player to leave the NBA at that point of his career – where he starred for Euroleague club Olympiacos Piraeus.

In 2010 he was named to the All-Euroleague Second Team and led the Greek league in scoring, averaging 15.3 points per game and helping his team win the Greek Cup title.

Upon his return to the NBA he played for the Phoenix Suns and Brooklyn Nets and spent time with the Washington Wizards, with his most recent stint coming with the New Orleans Pelicans in the 2013/2014 NBA season.

Josh is an outstanding athlete with a varied skill-set whose intelligence and solid character are standout traits. His NBA background, not to mention his dazzling play in both high school – when he was named a McDonald’s High School All American – and in college, stamp him as one of the most unique players the National Basketball League has ever seen.

We’ve gone through an extremely thorough process with Josh and we have done a lot of research on him,” said MightyMite Sydney Kings Head Coach Damian Cotter.

“As this process has gone on, my conversations with him have been nothing but positive.”

“He wants to come in to the team and contribute, and he wants to be put in the best position to thrive and succeed.”

“His skills, his ability and his experience in the NBA speak for themselves. He’s 6’8” and incredibly long, and he’ll be very disruptive at the defensive end of the floor. But it’s his character, his attitude and his intelligence that are really impressive.”

Coach Cotter also paid tribute to Head of Basketball Operations Tim Hudson for his key role in making Josh Childress a Sydney King.

“When Tim came to me and the Kings’ management about the possibility of getting Josh, it’s fair to say there was a sense of disbelief in the idea from a lot of people,” Coach Cotter said.

“After all, this is a player who was a legitimate NBA star, a guy who played a big role in some quality teams, not to mention his performance in the Euroleague.”

“But through a lot of hard work and his great ability to build relationships, Tim really did a fantastic job in helping convince Josh to come to Sydney.”

Aside from his undoubted on court talent, Josh is also very active in the community, doing tremendous work through The Josh Childress Foundation, a not for profit organisation dedicated to providing high school athletes the opportunity to attend university – either as a scholar or student-athlete.

Josh has a degree in sociology from Stanford and education is something he is very passionate about – yet another reason why he will be a perfect fit in the culture the Sydney Kings are committed to build.