Tag Archives: Basketball

Brooklyn Nets GM Sean Marks a Slam Dunk

Brooklyn Nets GM Sean Marks a Slam Dunk

General manager of basketball team the Brooklyn Nets, New Zealander Sean Marks, 45, ended up getting the job and producing a miracle turnaround while transforming Brooklyn into a prime destination that superstars Kevin Durant and…

NBL’s Hawks Sign Teen Rising Star Max Darling

NBL’s Hawks Sign Teen Rising Star Max Darling

Australian professional basketball team The Hawks has added one of New Zealand’s top young players for the 2020-21 NBL season, signing forward Max Darling to a three-year deal, Olgun Uluc reports for ESPN. Like every…

Sean Marks and the Nets Are in the Endgame Now

Sean Marks and the Nets Are in the Endgame Now

According to the New York Daily News, “selling hope is the easy part of being an NBA executive. The blueprint is simple: Refrain from long-term contracts, trade short-term assets for long-term assets, give playing…

New Zealand in Throes of a Basketball Revolution

New Zealand in Throes of a Basketball Revolution

An ESPN article reports that the School Sport New Zealand Census, which has been conducted annually since 2000, revealed earlier this year that basketball had gone past rugby and was only trailing netball as…

Brooklyn Nets Manager Sean Marks Bets on People

Brooklyn Nets Manager Sean Marks Bets on People

The Brooklyn Nets have become one of the NBA season’s biggest surprises. Auckland-born Sean Marks is the basketball team’s manager and he recently spoke with Harvey Araton, a sports reporter for The New York Times. Araton…

NBA’s Toughest Enforcer is Steven Adams

NBA’s Toughest Enforcer is Steven Adams

The days of the NBA’s powerful big men are slowly dwindling. Players like Detroit Pistons’ enforcer Bill Laimbeer and the Chicago Bulls’ Dennis Rodman have been effectively pushed out of the game with rule…

Steven Adams One of World’s Highest Paid Athletes

Steven Adams One of World’s Highest Paid Athletes

New Zealander Steven Adams, 24, professional basketball player for the Oklahoma City Thunder in the National Basketball Association (NBA), has made the annual Forbes World’s Highest Paid Athletes list. According to Forbes, “the 100 top-earning…

NBA Star Steven Adams Gets to Work

NBA Star Steven Adams Gets to Work

The biggest reason for basketball team Oklahoma City Thunder’s turnaround has not been Russell Westbrook, Paul George or Carmelo Anthony. It’s been New Zealander Steven Adams, whose 22 points per game on 28-of-34 shooting…

How Basketball Makes Ben Shewry a Better Chef

How Basketball Makes Ben Shewry a Better Chef

Ben Shewry, the New Zealand-born chef and owner of award-winning Melbourne restaurant Attica, talks with the Australian Financial Review about his obsession with basketball and about how what he learns on the court can…

How Steven Adams Is Becoming Star of NBA Play-Offs

How Steven Adams Is Becoming Star of NBA Play-Offs

With his long hair and handlebar moustache, Steven Adams, 22, looks like he has stepped out of the 1970s. But this 7ft tall New Zealander with a sleeve of tattoos is fast becoming the…

Brooklyn Nets Give Top Job to Sean Marks

Brooklyn Nets Give Top Job to Sean Marks

Sean Marks, 40, of Auckland, may not be a household name among casual basketball fans – or even among professional basketball players – but the Brooklyn Nets are heralding his general manager appointment as…

New Zealand Forward Wynyard Signs With Wildcats

New Zealand Forward Wynyard Signs With Wildcats

New Zealand basketball player Tai Wynyard has announced on Sunday that he has signed with the Wildcats, an American college basketball team that represents the University of Kentucky. “They have really high hopes for him,…

BancFirst – Steven Adams Commercial

BancFirst – Steven Adams Commercial

In a new advert for BancFirst New Zealand basketballer and Oklahoma City Thunder center Steven Adams showcases just how diverse the Kiwi accent is.

Tai Wynyard picked for Hoop Summit

Tai Wynyard picked for Hoop Summit

University of Kentucky basketball Class of 2016 vocal agreement Tai Wynyard was named on Wednesday to play for the World Junior Select team that will play against the United States in the Nike Hoop…

Team USA Very Confused by New Zealand Haka Dance

Team USA Very Confused by New Zealand Haka Dance

Take a look as the US basketball team feel somewhat confused as the Tall Blacks perform the Haka at the FIBA Basketball World Cup. The FIBA Basketball World Cup…

Cop that – Adams Wins Biffo

Cop that – Adams Wins Biffo

Basketball prodigy Steven Adams is hitting all the right notes in his debut NBL season for the Oklahoma Thunder – including copping a deliberate elbow to the head. Dallas Maverick and eight-time NBL All…

Adams on the Cusp of NBA Superstardom

Adams on the Cusp of NBA Superstardom

New Zealand basketball sensation, Steven Adams, is causing big waves in his debut NBA pre-season games for the Oklahoma City Thunder (OCT). Some are calling for the rookie to be elevated above the starting…

Kiwi Set to Light Up US College Basketball Team

Kiwi Set to Light Up US College Basketball Team

Exciting New Zealand basketball prospect Jack Salt will play for University of Virginia college team, the Cavaliers, next year. Salt will be coached by Tony Bennett, who played and coached in Auckland for four…

All-American from Taranaki

All-American from Taranaki

Originally from Waitara, Terai Sadler, 20, who plays basketball for Crowder College in Missouri, “can claim something no other Lady ‘Rider has – and perhaps very few around the nation – she’s the school’s…

On the Way to His NBA Dream

On the Way to His NBA Dream

Seven-foot-tall Rotorua-born Steven Adams plays basketball for the University of Pittsburgh. “A 19-year-old with size-19 shoes, inhabiting a new world, enjoying a pit stop on the way to his NBA dream.” A “compelling” story…

Nebraska’s Prize Prospect

Nebraska’s Prize Prospect

Huskers point guard prospect New Zealander Tai Webster is considered the prize of Nebraska coach Tim Miles’ first recruiting class. ESPN.com rates Webster as a four-star recruit with the following summation: “Webster is a…

Wildcat Spark Plug

Wildcat Spark Plug

Hawkes Bay basketball player Everard Bartlett, 26, is fast establishing a reputation as Perth’s spark plug, emerging as yet another scoring weapon for the Wildcats as it looks to build on an impressive 3-0…

Giant Impresses

Giant Impresses

New Zealander Steven Adams, 19, “just may be one of the most intriguing players in college basketball this season, not to mention one of the most physically impressive at 7-foot, 250 pounds,” ESPN senior…

Multi-tasking on Court

Multi-tasking on Court

New Zealand point guard Tai Webster has committed to studying and playing at the University of Nebraska. Webster, at 17 years old, is a rising star, having become the youngest player to ever make…

Standing Out on Court

Standing Out on Court

New Zealand high school basketball player 2.15m- (7 feet 1 inch) Steven Adams, who plays for Notre Dame Prep in Baltimore, is one of the top-ranked players in the Class of 2012 (No. 6…

Towering Forward Impresses

Towering Forward Impresses

Wellington basketball player, former Scots College student, Steven Adams is Sports Illustrated’s ‘High School Player of the Month’. Seven-foot Adams, who has relocated to the United States playing for Notre Dame Prep, is immensely talented and…

Jumping Back On Court

Jumping Back On Court

Rotorua-born basketball player Taki Te Koi plays as a senior for California’s Dominican University women’s team and after a torn ligament injury “is ready to put it all out on the court again in…

Roughrider Home to Play

Roughrider Home to Play

New Zealand basketball player Jordan Hunter, who is currently a sophomore at Missouri’s Crowder College playing at point guard for the Crowder Lady Roughriders, has received and accepted an invitation to play for her…

Total Stand-out

Total Stand-out

Whangarei basketballer Megan Craig, who was Kamo High School’s Sportswoman of the Year in 28, is now at the University at Albany, studying business management. At a listed 6-foot-9, when Craig takes the court…

Sydney’s Secret Weapon

Sydney’s Secret Weapon

Thirty-four-year-old former Olympian basketballer and Albanian coach Dunedin-born Mark Dickel recently played at point guard for the Sydney Kings. The Sydney Morning Herald asked: “Is it a publicity stunt or the ultimate act of…

Marks a trail blazer

Marks a trail blazer

Auckland-born Sean Marks, 35, the first New Zealander to play in the NBA, has been signed with Portland’s Trail Blazers. Marks came out of the University of California-Berkeley and was drafted 44th overall by…

Tall Blacks Thump Boomers

Tall Blacks Thump Boomers

New Zealand have beaten Australia 100–78 securing the top spot in the Oceania rankings and a place at the 2010 World Basketball Championships. New Zealand’s 22-point margin – its largest-ever win over Australia -…

Super Sonic Sean

Super Sonic Sean

The Seattle SuperSonic sign Sean Marks, New Zealand’s biggest b-ball boy.