Breakers ready to welcome Tall Blacks stars

The welcome mats are out for star Tall Blacks duo Isaac Fotu and Tai Webster at New Zealand Breakers headquarters — in more ways than one.

Head coach Dan Shamir made it clear this week that the Europe-based Kiwi basketballers, who have been undergoing the coronavirus lockdown in their home town of Auckland, would be hugely welcome additions to the Breakers lineup should they have any reluctance around continuing their careers in the north.

And senior Breakers players Tom Abercrombie and Rob Loe concurred, indicating the duo would be welcomed with open arms at a club able to offer them a seamless transition into the Australian NBL.

From the moment Fotu and Webster headed back to Auckland for lockdown, the Breakers have been on high alert. Owner Matt Walsh told Stuff in early April that they would be highly interested in fielding a mega-kiwi lineup for the 2020-21 ANBL season and would be making both Fotu and Webster aware of their interest.

Webster’s older brother, Corey, has been a long-term standout for the club and recently signed a contract extension that will keep him there until the end of the 2022-23 season.

Fotu played the 2019-20 season in Italy but is now off contract, while Tai Webster has been plying his trade for the powerful Galatasaray club in Turkey. Both came through the development system at the Breakers and logged NBL time with the organisation as development players.

And while the Breakers cannot compete with the money on offer at the leading clubs in Europe, there is a school of thought that the post-covid landscape could make Australasia a coveted landing spot for professional basketballers.

Shamir confirmed that both Fotu and Webster had been working out regularly at the Breakers facility since government regulations allowed for the gym to reopen. They, like other elite Kiwi basketballers based offshore, are welcomed with open arms at the club.

‘‘So they’re around the building on a daily basis, and that’s the first step,’’ Shamir told Stuff. ‘‘To make it real now, first of all it’s up to them. We would be very excited to have them, but we all know the business and the market and it needs to make sense.’’