WATCH TAB Courtside 1v1 on SBS with Megan Hustwaite weekly on Thursday from 7pm (AEST) via , or catch up via , or at the top of this article.
Goorjian returned to Australia last year after spending more than a decade coaching in China and now has the Hawks on the cusp of the NBL finals for the first time since 2017.
The 67-year-old is arguably the most successful coach in NBL history, having won six championships during a 17-year spell spanning South East Melbourne Magic, South Dragons and the Sydney Kings.
Sydney won three championships under the American’s guidance, but it was their Grand Final defeat of 2008 that perhaps left the most significant mark, with a change of ownership prompting Goorjian's departure long before their game-five defeat to the Melbourne Tigers in Sydney.
“You go through life and you look back at (how) certain things happen – you know, like if I wrote a book (about) what went on at the Kings,” Goorjian said during the latest episode of TAB Courtside 1v1 on SBS.
“Five weeks, six weeks into the change of ownership, I knew I was done. This is finished for me, I'm no longer. I can't work in this environment; I know I'm finished.
“That last game that I was involved in, there wasn't an empty seat in the house. It was a tremendous game.
“And, again, a lot of emotion running through me, and I sided with [then-part owner and businessman] Dorry [Kordahi] during that final run when I was struggling with ownership.
“He became like a leader for me, a guy that I could confide in, bring in to talk to the guys when they were feeling down, have meals together – he just gave me life, gave me energy, made me look at the bright side, made me happy.
“It [the game] finished and I remember walking to the car because it was an afternoon game.
“It was a Sunday and the sun was setting, and you're walking out, looking outside at the beautiful Sydney Harbour.
“And (as I’m) getting into my car, leaving the last game, he tapped me on the shoulder.
“I had no idea he was there, I just turned around and he said to me, ‘Brian, someday, I’m going to own a team and we're going to take the next step. We're going to do it’.”
In 2020, Kordahi purchased part-ownership of the Hawks and once Goorjian got the call, the pair’s decade-long dream became a reality.
“At this stage of my career, when you get offered something, you get a little excitement, or you know (it’s the one),” Goorjian said of his decision to come back and coach the Hawks.
“For me in Australia and the finish that I had, where are you going to go?
“I mean, Sydney, I'm not going back to Sydney, Melbourne's doing it all, Perth… you look around, there's no jobs here for me.
“And then I thought: ‘Wollongong’.
“They finished last (but) there’s a guy I've got a background with, you're building something brand new.
“You get to start it, you get to handpick, you get to build it – you're an underdog trying to throw punches against the United’s and the Perth’s.
“And I got that, I'm into that, I'm emotionally drawn to that.”
The Hawks have won 14 of their 28 games thus far under Goorjian and sit fifth on the NBL ladder with a further eight games still to play until the post-season.
WATCH the next episode of TAB Courtside 1v1 on SBS with Megan Hustwaite on Thursday, May 20 at 7pm (AEST) via , or catch up via .
SBS will again broadcast multiple regular-season NBA games per week in HD on SBS VICELAND and streamed live via SBS On Demand. Plus, every game of the upcoming 2020-21 NBL season will be LIVE, FREE and in HD via , with select games also live on SBS VICELAND.
