A Kings supporter since childhood, Springwood's Angus Brandt realised a dream on Saturday night when he scored 13 points for the Sydney club in their hard-fought 86-83 opening round NBL win against arch-rivals Wollongong.
The 24-year-old - who captained US college basketball side Oregon State Beavers before signing a three-year deal with Sydney in August - scored 13 points and made six rebounds in front of a bumper home crowd of 6928 at the Kingdome.
"It's so great playing for the Kings and I'd really enjoyed the pre-season, but I think it was only during Saturday night's game that it all really sunk in, with the crowd cheering us on," Brandt told the Gazette.
"It looked like it [Qantas Credit Union Arena] was pretty close to capacity and the club's officials told me it was the best home crowd attendance here for many years."
The Kings' US import, former NBA player Josh Childress, top scored with 26 points in a dominant display, while Tom Garlepp contributed with 20 and captain Ben Madgen 12.
In a see-sawing game, Sydney held their nerve in the final quarter when it mattered most.
The men in purple and gold hardened their defence and raced to a handy six-point advantage with two minutes left, but the Hawks narrowed that lead to two with just eight seconds remaining.
After a timeout, Brandt was fouled and converted one of two free throws and a Sydney victory was sealed when Hawks forward Gary Ervin missed a long range three-pointer attempt.
It was Sydney's first victory against Wollongong in six regular season games.
Rookie Kings head coach Damian Cotter paid credit to his players, six of whom are newcomers to the club, including Brandt.
"I'm really happy with our blokes," Cotter said.
"We've still got a way to go and there were periods we weren't that cohesive, but we fought back well after being down nine at one stage."
"I feel as time goes on that cohesiveness will develop."
Brandt was happy with his own performance, particularly in the third and fourth quarters, but especially the team's as a whole.
"Childress played really well and stood up to the hype and this team that the coach has put together gets on so well.
"One of them [the squad's veterans] said it is the best team chemistry since they've been with the club, which can only be a good thing."
Despite playing in only one pre-season game due to niggling injuries, Brandt confirmed he is back to full fitness and better for playing for 29 minutes during the win over the Hawks.
"I was really pushing to play more pre-season games but the club's medicos, quite wisely, were pretty cautious with me and did a great job managing my recovery.
"Now I'm good to go."
The Kings, who finished sixth last season, will now turn their attention to Friday night's home game against the Townsville Crocodiles.