Without challenges there isn't success: How Dorry Kordahi has revitalised the Illawarra Hawks

In 2019-20, the Illawarra Hawks finished last in league, lost their star signings in Lamelo Ball and Aaron Brooks to injury, and rounded it out by financially collapsing.

A year on, they are fourth in the league and Illawarra fans are feeling more hopeful than they have in a long time. The reason? In part, the Hawks new ownership group, led by Dorry Kordahi.

For Kordahi, owning a team has always been the dream, but it is also only the start.

“We’re not here to make up numbers, we want to be a title contender," Kordahi said.

Kordahi has been involved in basketball, and the NBL, for a number of years, but his passion for basketball extends much further past his professional interest.

“Being around basketball all my life, being a player in the past, basketball runs through my veins,” Kordahi said. 

“The sport has given me so much growing up, I’ve always been around the sport, and when this opportunity came up with the Hawks, it was an opportunity that was a bit too hard to refuse.

“The challenge for myself personally was more about trying to make change, and trying to better this club and better the community engagement, and to build this club closer to being a driving force,” Kordahi said. 

This interest was first displayed in the NBL in 2007 when he bought a partial ownership in the Sydney Kings. As well as introducing him to NBL ownership, Kordahi’s Kings tenure was also vital in forming one of his most important relationships, with then Kings and current Hawks coach Brian Goorjian. 

“[Brian and I] built our relationship through one of the most turbulent times in the Kings history, and the club folded the year after, so we built our relationship during probably one of the hardest times of both our professional careers,” Kordahi said. 

“To maintain a strong relationship over the last 12 years while Brian was in China is a testament to friendship and trust."

For me to reach out to him and say ‘I'm coming back into the league and I want you to be our coach’, he came back based on trust and our relationship we had,” Kordahi said. 

Kordahi was also upfront about how learning from his experience with the Kings helped him prepare for his current role. 

“This time round I’m older, and I’ve got a much more direct role in the club, I’ve [been] a lot more hands on with the operation and the direction of the club,” Kordahi said. 

But he hasn’t done it alone. Dorry Kordahi represents one third of the Hawks ownership group, also composed of Michael Proctor and Bryan Colangelo. According to Kordahi, they are a unique group, and it is their differences that allow them to operate as a cohesive unit.

“The great thing with having [Michael] Proctor, very strong in the college system, and [Bryan] Colangelo, being a former executive in the NBA, we’ve got a very good, robust group of minds,” Kordahi said. 

“We all bring in a very diverse group of experience, between all three of us we’re all experienced in basketball and we’re very diverse in our thinking, we work collaboratively with this team."

Having them overseas, it gives us the ability that we can stretch our knowledge and our search for players much more broader than other teams."

We all learn from each other and that's important, and we all bring a different mindset and that's been great as well,” Kordahi said.

The Hawks had a highly effective off-season, and this has translated on to the court, with the team playing at a finals calibre almost every night. While this was always a goal, even Kordahi was surprised by how quickly it came to fruition. 

“Considering where we started from, we’re extremely happy with the progression of the team on and off the court,” Kordahi said. 

“To be sitting fourth at the moment, we’re showing positive signs that the investment into the club has been going as planned."

If we can make the playoffs in year one, it would be an unbelievable achievement, for a club being put together through COVID."

We’re not going to get ahead of ourselves, it’s a long road and this is just the first step in what we’re building, but I think we’ve put in some strong foundations,” Kordahi said. 

While playoff success and a championship is the ultimate goal, Dorry Kordahi also has a longer term aim for the team, one which he can see is slowly coming into focus. 

“Our goal is to be respected in the league,” Kordahi said. 

The Hawks are well on their way to that, and recent big wins against South East Melbourne and Cairns are furthering the progress. Ultimately, the Hawks still have a lot of regular season to play, but are holding fast on their top four spot. As for how they’ll fare once they get there?

“We all know once you're in the playoffs anything happens.”