Former Horsham Hornet Shaun Bruce is a relieved man after his Sydney Kings swept the Tasmanian JackJumpers 3-0 to claim the 2021-22 NBL title.
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The grand final win was a case of third time lucky for Bruce who had previously featured in losing grand finals for the Kings and the Cairns Taipans.
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"It's hard to describe really. There were so many different emotions and a lot of relief to be honest. I've had a few tries at it and I haven't been able to get over the line," Bruce said of the win to the Wimmera Mail-Times.
"It just felt really good."
The Kings won game three 97-88, on May 11 and were best served by Xavier Cooks - 23 points, 13 rebounds and seven assists - who won the series MVP.
Bruce was impressive off the bench, contributing three points and eight assists from 24 minutes 18 seconds court time.
The win is the Kings first Championship since 2005 and the game three crowd of 16, 149 at Qudos Bank Arena broke the attendance record for an NBL finals game.
Bruce was full of praise for the mighty turnout by Kings' fans.
"It was so cool you could just tell that everyone there was there for a reason and that was to see us win," he said.
"I know as a group we definitely didn't want to go back down to Tassie. It was just an awesome night and Sydney turned out for it which was awesome."
Fans of the Kings would be well aware that the side's celebrations continued for days after the historic victory.
Many players and staff were spotted in their championship gear at the SCG for a Sydney Swans game on Saturday night - three days after their title win.
Bruce shed some light on the festivities that followed the game.
"Initially back in the changerooms we just spent a bit of time with just the coaches and players but then after about 20 minutes everyone's family and friends were back there and it was packed," he said.
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"There was maybe two or 300 people in our changeroom at one point, so it was an awesome feeling to have mum and dad and my girlfriend there was really special.
"It went through until Sunday when guys had to get back to the US and get onto their next job where they're going to play. We had a good solid few days together, it was really fun."
Now an NBA free-agent with 252 games under his belt, Bruce is planning on taking some time off to rest and figure out his next contract.
He is looking forward to getting back to Horsham to visit his family, most likely during the next school holidays.
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