Hawks president Dorry Kordahi has labelled the so-called 'spygate' saga a storm in a tea cup, declaring it reflects the Kings growing insecurity about the Illawarra becoming NSW's No.1 team in the league.
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A formal complaint was made by the Kings to the NBL, after Kordahi was inside the WIN Entertainment Centre while they were training before the pre-season game, which was cancelled due to a COVID scare anyway.
Kordahi said he walked inside the venue at 1.05pm to check the venue was in order, five minutes after the Kings allotted 11.30am to 1pm training time.
He returned at 1.17pm to look at the courtside 'Hollywood' seating arrangements, as players were engaged in a post-training shootaround, when he received a message from Sydney chief executive Chris Pongrass asking him to leave the playing area.
From there, the situation really kicked off, as Kordahi was called by Sydney owner Paul Smith, where they argued about his motives for being near the Kings.
"It's a storm in a teacup," Kordahi said. "When I sat down at the Hollywood seats, I was talking (with Hawks operations manager Joe Tertzakian) about the corporate boxes and the whole configuration, as the players were there shooting around at the end of the session.
"I got the message and said, that's fine, point taken, they were over their training time anyway, but it wasn't a problem to leave.
"I've got better things to do than spy on the Kings, this just shows more about their insecurity because they know we've rattled their cage, the Hawks are respected around the league and it's made them jealous."
The 'spygate' saga has lit the fuse for a fiery NSW derby on Saturday night in Sydney, after Smith had already labelled the Hawks 'scumbags' and 'idiots' in a radio interview in pre-season.
Kordahi said he welcomed Adelaide owner Grant Kelley into the playing arena while the Hawks were training the day before Sunday's season opener against the 36ers, won by Illawarra 81-71.
He likened the NSW rivalry to the NBA's Lakers and Clippers in Los Angeles.
"For years the Lakers owned LA and they'll always be the Lakers, but the Clippers have claimed equal rights," he said.
"We're respected as a club now, we're not a one-hit wonder, we're building a team that's even better than last year and the Kings know it."
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