NBA veteran Aaron Brooks' time with Illawarra was all too brief, but it's still paying dividends for the Hawks in the form of new import George King.
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The best NBA-credentialed guard to play in the NBL, Brooks showed all the class of a 645-game NBA resume when he arrived in Australia in 2018, averaging 19 points across five games for the Hawks before rupturing his achilles.
It ended a stellar career but the brief stint in Australia was enough for Brooks - now a development coach with the Knicks - to give the NBL and the Hawks a ringing endorsement when King sought his counsel on inking a deal with Illawarra.
"I spoke to Aaron Brooks on the phone and he said 'hey man, you're lucky to have an opportunity to play in the NBL' and that stuck with me," King said.
"I just met Aaron earlier this summer in New York. I was up there training with them and he was my one-on-one guy so I got to know him well. In this game when you see someone you know who played in a league that your headed to, and that exact team, you always reach out and ask 'what's the good, what's the bad?'
"He spoke very highly of the league and the team and he told me 'you should sign this'. I've been around long enough to know you don't hear that often. I've played in Italy, Germany, I've played in Poland, I've played in the NBA, but I'd never had everybody I talked to, multiple people, speak as highly as they did of the NBL.
"I spoke to Tony Crocker who played with the 36ers a couple of years ago, they all said 'you're going to love it'. That was always the tone and when I heard all the guys I look up to telling me 'you need to sign this deal' I said 'OK'.
"I heard the highest [praise] from multiple different people about Australia and the NBL so I'm just looking forward to soaking it up and enjoying it. I'm looking forward to the opportunity with the organisation to take the next step in my career."
The 28-year-old will add much-needed versatility, and three-point shooting, in the three and four spots as coach Jacob Jackomas looks to fill the void left by departed Antonius Cleveland and China-bound Duop Reath - the latter making a surprise appearance at Hawks training on Thursday.
For his part, the University Of Colorado alum is happy to play any role in the service of winning.
"I'm a little bit like a chameleon, I can adapt and adjust my game," he said.
"Obviously I have a lot of tools in my game so whatever the team needs, it might change weekly, it might change nightly, it's in my game to do that. Size, length, perimeter, mid-range, post, I have it all, so whatever Jacob needs from my game, it's not a problem.
"I just want to be here in the moment, enjoy my time and just soak it up. I got a bit of a championship bug now after feeling what feels like in the Summer League [with Portland].
"I want to play a season where I'm there grinding it out, going through the ups and downs and getting that kind of reward at the end of it. I'm looking forward to the journey first and foremost and I think it's going to be good."
For all the praise, the advocates of the NBL left out some details, like how cold it gets in August, with King conspicuously rugged up at the Snakepit since arriving.
"I didn't pack anything warm at all," he said.
"Speaking to guys that played in Australia they all said it's going to be hot, it's an extended summer, so I packed my shorts and my t-shirts and didn't bring anything warm.
"To most people it's not bone-chilling cold but, how my body operates, it is cold. I wasn't expecting that but they tell me it'll be warm soon so I'm looking forward to that."