The New Zealand Breakers are a professional basketball team competing in Australia's National Basketball League. The Breakers joined the NBL for the 2003/04 season, along with the Hunter Pirates, as one of the two expansion clubs. The club is based in the city of Auckland. They are currently owned by Paul Blackwell, owner of a local Pak'n Save. They are the first team from outside of Australia to compete in the National Basketball League. The Breakers play at the North Shore Events Centre on Auckland's North Shore. In past seasons the Breakers have been based at Trusts Stadium in Waitakere and have played matches in the Pacific Centre in Manukau, while they have also taken NBL games to Christchurch's Westpac Arena, Wellington's Queens Wharf Events Centre and Hamilton's Mystery Creek. In their first season of competition they finished with 12 wins and 21 losses, finishing 10th out of 11 teams. The inaugural coach of the Breakers, Jeff Green was fired after a poor 2 wins from the first 10 matches record and an on court brawl between players and coaches that he was involved with. He was succeeded by Frank Arsego. In the 2004/2005 season things got no better, with the team finishing in 11th and last place in the competition, with 9 wins and 23 losses. Frank Arsego left the club at the end of this season and after much speculation about Tall Blacks coach Tab Baldwin taking his spot, Andrej Lemanis took the vacant coaching position. In the 2005/2006 season, the Breakers finished the regular season in 9th spot out of 11 teams, with 9 wins and 23 losses. American forward Rich Melzer along with Ben Pepper starred for the team, and were named the players of the year at the Breakers awards. On 14 July, 2006 it was announced that star power forwardRich Melzer had signed a two-year contract with star NBA team San Antonio Spurs. On August 16, 2006 the Breakers signed former West Sydney Razorbacks point guard Adam Darragh, who will be the Breakers back-up point guard behind captain Paul Henare. The following day on August 17 it was announced that the Breakers had signed Ricardo Powell, a power forward to replace Rich Melzer. On 28 August, 2006 the Breakers unveiled a new look for their uniform, the primary colour of their jerseys changing to black, to represent New Zealand as they are the only New Zealand team in the competition. The Breakers struggled in the 2006-07 season finishing with an 11-22 record. The only shining light was the play of American import Carlos Powell who led the league in scoring, with 28 points a game. This included a 50 point game against the Melbourne Tigers. After the 2006-07 season, original Breaker Aaron Olson announced his retirement, and Powell announced he would not be returning. In the 2007-08 off-season the Breakers have signed Australian veteran Tony Ronaldson, and current Tall Blacks Kirk Penney, Phill Jones and Paora Winitana.
