Sydney Kings coach Damian Cotter is confident there won’t be any repercussions when Josh Childress faces the Perth Wildcats for the first time since his moment of madness.
The Kings meet the Wildcats in an NBL clash in Sydney on Sunday, three weeks after Kings import Childress flattened Perth forward Jesse Wagstaff with a flying forearm after being blindsided by a hard but legal screen.
The former NBA player copped a one-match ban for his action – a penalty widely criticised as too lenient.
But Cotter doesn’t expect the West Australian rivals to be baying for revenge on the weekend.
“Not at all. There’s been a lot of water under the bridge for both teams,” Cotter told AAP.
“(And) we expect the Perth outfit to be physical anyway.”
Cotter said he had great confidence Childress had put the Wagstaff incident behind him.
The incident appears to have galvanised a repentant Childress who has been in sensational form since.
He returned from his ban to inspire the previously struggling Kings to back-to-back victories in the last round, as they crushed the Wollongong Hawks by a record-breaking 29 points then beat Adelaide 36ers 107-100.
Childress was unstoppable against Adelaide, becoming just the fourth player in NBL history to amass 30-plus points, 15-plus rebounds, five-plus assists and five blocks in a game.
“We’re very happy with how we’ve bounced back with the recent adversity,” Cotter said.
He will need to be at his best once again on Sunday as the Kings now have a sorry record of 15 straight losses to the Wildcats dating back to 2010 when the Kings returned to the NBL after a brief hiatus.
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