New Zealand Breakers

The New Zealand Breakers (also known as the BNZ Breakers for sponsorship reasons) are a New Zealand professional basketball team based in Auckland. The Breakers are the only non-Australian side currently competing in Australia's National Basketball League (NBL), and one of only two non-Australian sides to have done so (the other being the now-absent Singapore Slingers). They play their home games at multiple venues, mainly Spark Arena in Auckland. In 2011, the Breakers won their first NBL Championship and successfully defended it in 2012 and 2013, claiming the second three-peat in NBL history. They won their fourth title in 2015. The Breakers were owned by Liz and Paul Blackwell from 2005 to 2018 when a consortium headed by former NBA player Matt Walsh became the majority shareholders via a newly formed company called Breakers Basketball Ltd. History Early years In March 2003, a New Zealand basketball team was confirmed to be entering the Australian National Basketball League in the 2003–04 season. Three Waikato businessmen, Michael Redman, Dallas Fisher and Keith Ward, were persuaded to start the Breakers franchise.