Not previously. I think they may this year? Would have to be ways around it though. Payments from sponsors to spouse, other assets, etc. e.g., an Eastern states club is always rumoured to cover renovation costs for players' investment properties. A renovation could easily run into the hundreds of thousands and be difficult to uncover unless auditors were particularly dogged.

How about NZers would rather live in NZ with their families and take a slight paycut rather than live 3-6hours away and a plane ride. There is 1 Australian in the Breakers, Bruton and sure he will be paid well. Abercrombie and Pledger and Webster came through the Breakers own academy and will have a certain amount of loyalty towards the club, especially Webster after his Pot issue. Henare has never played for another club, Vukona has but is back, Penney has been there done that in Europe and will be on the biggest wage but he doesn't play down here for the money, it's about the lifestyle and the fact that the Breakers facility is close to where he grew up.
Most of the Breakers play for the Tall Blacks, ever think that NZ players might want to be part of a NZ franchise winning an Australian comp and have a bit of loyalty to NZ. Just cause they are top of the table and winning convincingly they must have cheated. Get a development program and develop some good players and then you won't have to pay big dollars to bring in guys to fill all the missing pieces.

I think Mystro has hit the nail on the head.

Can anyone tell me why there is only 1 New Zealand Team? Im sure they could support 2...

Their population is simillar to Queensland and they have 3!

Crowds and money. There's often talk of a second team but their primary proponent pulls back when the league doesn't fall over themselves to get them in when the focus is Melbourne, Brisbane, etc.

I tend to be against a second NZ team in the NBL, until the Breakers have at least 1 title under their belts ;)

Well mystro, with the way they are playing at the moment you wont have to wait too long!!

Unfortunately NZ teams have a habit of choking so I'm not gonna count on it until I see Penney holding the trophy but I agree, they are playing awesomely as individuals and as a team. Fingers crossed this is the Breakers year to do it, if we can't do it with this squad we will never ever do it.

NZNBL is nowhere near as strong as Aus NBL, even with guys like Ballinger ect all playing over here.
Corey Webster for example can put up 30+ points in the NZNBL and Henare scores in double figures with ease.
For a second NZ team to be competitive they would need to poach some of the Breakers Tallblacks and then add strong Australian role players around them with a couple of big dollar Imports and you still have no guarantee of team chemistry much like early Breaker Squads that on paper looked to be the goods but on court stunk like Rotorua.

But if NZ did have 2 teams they could create a rivalry between the two. Providing that both thems could be compeditive it could become a spectical such as the showdowns in AFL.

But then again, when has the NBL been able to sell itself as a spectical?

All valid points Mystro.

I am not suggesting anything untowward but recognising how deep and talanted the team is compared to others in the league.

You would think moving forward players you have mentioned like Webster, Pledger and especially Abercrombie would command more dollars when their contract is up so you would expect them to move on.

We all heard how the Storm players made sacfrices to be part of a cahmpionship team, live in Melbourne where no one can recognise them, the great facilities and Melbourne lfiestyle etc etc........

Pledger, Webster and Abercrombie are on much less money than you guys think. Remember these guys are franchise players for their NZNBL teams and they also get money from their respective franchises...the Harbour Heat and the Waikato Pistons. Trueman just got signed to Manawatu (one of the minor franchises with little money) for 1900 a week...it all adds up over an 18 game season not including playoff

Mystro, you made some great points! And by the way Trueman isn't even a franchise player...excellent work ethic and a real blue-collar player in terms of getting key boards at both ends. If Trueman is on 1900 a week, Abo must have been on alot more as he was a franchise player for the Pistons. 20/10/5/5 kind of a player

Only guy I'm expecting to move on would be Abercrombie to Europe and it would be more about the challenge of playing as an Import as opposed to the money, but he will enjoy the money as who wouldn't.

NZ Breakers have an awesome basketball academy dedicated to developing the Breakers of the future, that is largely the reason for a lot of the depth on the bench. If other teams followed suit their development players would be a lot more NBL ready. The Breakers are also willing to let older more seasoned veterans go (Phill Jones for example)to make way for the guys coming through the academy (Tom Abercrombie).

Would be great if the Breakers could win it this year. Might be more attractive over in NZ... who knows... another NZ team maybe?

This thread should be renamed "Can NZ support two NBL teams".

I largely doubt the NBL or the basketball population of NZ are in a position to support a second team from NZ. Yes it is a nice idea however why is it that the only competitions in which NZ has multiple representative teams are Super 14's and the Trans-Tasman Netball League? (that's a rhetorical question, we all know the answer!)

Both the NRL and the A-League understand that their sports do not inspire enough support at grassroot level to expand the number of teams from NZ. The NBL sits below both these competitions in terms of attracting corporate dollars. This might change in the next 10 years however until then it would be folly for the NBL to go down that path.

The current success of the Breakers should not be held up as justification of talent depth in NZ basketball. The Breakers recognise the window for opportunity will close in the next few years as a group of great NZ basketballers enjoy the twilight of their careers.

A 2cnd NBL team could def survive if based in Wellington. NZ doesn't need the depth to have 2teams, they just need to be able to provide a few players that the fans can get behind and add some decent Aussies and 2 good Imports. Wellington as a region is very passionate about sport and I would think they would have no probs building a decent supportive fan base.
Big Ads while I agree somewhat with the window of opportunity and twilight of their careers call, NZ (Tallblacks but a new NBL franchise would have a chance of securing some of these guys) have guys like Rob Lowe, Steven Adams, BJ Anthony coming through the ranks and then great young guys like Abercrombie, Pledger, Webster and Trueman who are just at the beginning of their careers and there are prob plenty more I don't know about. Only guys we are really loosing is Henare and Boucher, Penneys got plenty left in the tank
MACDUB, I have always rated Trueman, quietly goes about his business on the court and takes his opportunities as they come, nothing flashy but developing his game as he's goes along.

A 2nd team could definently survive in Wellington. You only have to look at the success of the Saints in the NZNBL..league champions, crowds of 3500 for reg season games, huge community involvement by players, good sponsors. Their roster last season consisted of a few quality players...Devendorf, Tait, Horvath, Erron Maxey, Darryl Hudson, Casey Frank, Leon Henry.

Spot on MACDUB, the Saints have consistently put a quality team on the floor for the past few years. I think if they could land a solid sponsor that they would be the organization to do it. Change the Breakers to the Auckland Breakers and have the Wellington Saints added to Brisbane Wet Ducks and a second Melbourne franchise, maybe the Melbourne Fire? Breakers Vs Saints rivalry would be instant.
The only concern would be that can a second NZ AUSNBL Franchise attract solid corporate sponsorship in the long term, especially if they are not immediately successful on the court which is highly likely when you consider how long the Breakers have taken to get to where they are and still do not have a championship under their belt (fingers crossed this is the year to do it). Also who is gonna coach them? I do not believe that many of the NZNBL coaches are up to AUSNBL standards yet, maybe bring in Gorj lol