Breakers hail their captain fantastic
Breakers skipper Mika Vukona plays his 300th game for the club in tonight’s home clash against the Sydney Kings. MARC HINTON looks back on a memorable previous 299.
Stories about Mika Vukona reverberate around the corridors of the New Zealand Breakers. But none resonate more than the infamous Perth miracle comeback that inspired the club’s first championship in 2011.
With the 34-year-old Vukona achieving a significant milestone in today’s visit to the NSEC by Andrew Gaze’s Sydney Kings, becoming the first player in club history to bring up 300 appearances, it has been an appropriate time for reflection on a career that’s netted not just four championships (he has five in total) and one runnerup finish, but countless memorable moments from a man who’s never played with anything but total commitment.
Vukona is a marvel. At 1.98m and 103kg, he’s undersized for the power forward position he plays for both club and country. But seldom is he overpowered, and never is he outworked.
He has a Richie McCaw-type engine that allows him to play on full throttle whenever he is on court, and his mixture of athleticism, anticipation, toughness and smarts place him among the most respected players in the Australian NBL. Also like McCaw, his ability to play through pain has become legendary.
Which brings us to Perth and those 2011 playoffs.
Vukona went down with what turned out to be a grade two medial ligament strain early in game one of the semifinal series against the Wildcats at the NSEC. The Breakers lost that night, 101-78, and headed to Perth for a must-win game two three days later which, frankly, looked a forlorn prospect.
Every man and his dog at the Breakers believed Vukona was done. The doc told him as much, with a recovery time of two to three weeks, at best.
But Vukona jumped on the plane, and on game morning in Perth put himself through a fitness test that was so astounding that those present that day swore they couldn’t believe what they were seeing with their own eyes.
‘‘To this day I still don’t know how he did it,’’ said now Breakers coach and then team-mate Paul Henare. ’’It gave us that bulletproof type feeling we needed going into that environment to win game two.’’
Vukona didn’t just play on what was effectively one good leg, but snared 10 rebounds and, along with a Kirk Penney shooting masterclass, inspired a 93-89 victory that kept the playoff run alive, and ultimately led to the first championship.
‘‘That game in Perth sums him up,’’ adds long-time national and club team-mate Tom Abercrombie. ‘‘There was doom and gloom after that home defeat ... but he gave everyone a huge boost when he laced ‘em up and was able to do the things he did.’’
Vukona was asked by one reporter this week to recall that special game in Perth. The response was beautiful. ’’I think you could Google it,’’ he replied. ‘‘I don’t need to talk about that again.’’
Yes, Vukona doesn’t do swag. He’s a selfless, humble, team-first guy who would hate to think that anything was ever about him, rather than his contribution to the greater entity. He’s also become, over time, a great leader and mentor, and both a standard-setter and a moral compass at the club.
He says the 300-game achievement shows he’s ‘‘in a good place’’, he counts that 2011 run to the first title, and the obstacles navigated, as his career highlight and still vividly remembers the very first outing. ‘‘It was the first game the Breakers ever played. I was a development player, and came on in garbage time. It was awesome, the house was rocking, and we won.’’
Henare says the 300-game milestone is a true testament to his skipper. ‘‘He’s the guy people look to on and off the floor. Off the floor he’s made massive improvements in terms of being able to have those honest and open, yet sometimes uncomfortable, conversations with team-mates. He has the respect to say those things.’’
Adds Abercrombie: ‘‘He’s an inspiration and motivation for us all to go out and play that little bit harder every night. He’s set the tone defensively for years and helped establish that culture of toughness we have at that end of the floor.’’ And off the floor? ‘‘I guess he’s a bit bi-polar ... super intense on the court, but off it he’s the nicest guy you will ever meet, and a real family man who cares about all his team-mates.’’
Captain Fantastic. Mr Irreplaceable.