2021 New Zealand NBL season

The 2021 NBL season was the 40th season of the National Basketball League.

2021 New Zealand NBL season
League	New Zealand NBL
Sport	Basketball
Duration	24 April – 23 July
Number of games	18
Number of teams	10
Regular season
Minor premiers	Wellington Saints
Season MVP	Dion Prewster (Wellington Saints)
Top scorer	Hunter Hale (Nelson Giants)
Final Four
Champions	Wellington Saints
Runners-up	Hawke's Bay Hawks
Grand Final MVP	Kerwin Roach

As a result of the modified, COVID-affected 2020 season, three of the top four teams in 2019 (Wellington Saints, Hawke's Bay Hawks and Southland Sharks) did not compete. All three teams re-entered in 2021 to increase the league's total number to 10 for the first time since 2014.^[1][2]

The regular season commenced on 24 April in Dunedin with the Otago Nuggets (2020 champions) hosting the Wellington Saints (2019 champions) at the Edgar Centre. The season contained 12 weeks of regular season games followed by a two-day finals schedule in July.^[2] The Saints won their 12th NBL championship in 2021 with a win over the Hawks in the grand final.

Team information

Team	City	Arena	Colours	Head Coach	Import	Import
Auckland Huskies	Auckland	Eventfinda Stadium		Aaron Young	Justin Bibbs	Chris Johnson
Canterbury Rams	Christchurch	Cowles Stadium		Mick Downer	E. J. Singler	Deshon Taylor
Franklin Bulls	Auckland	Franklin Pool and Leisure Centre		Jamie Reddish	Zane Waterman
Hawke's Bay Hawks	Napier	Pettigrew Green Arena		Jacob Chance	Rhys Vague	Devondrick Walker
Manawatu Jets	Palmerston North	Arena Manawatu		Tim McTamney	DeAndre Daniels	Daishon Knight
Nelson Giants	Nelson	Trafalgar Centre		Michael Fitchett	Hunter Hale	Donte Ingram
Otago Nuggets	Dunedin	Edgar Centre		Brent Matehaere	Geremy McKay	Isaiah Moss
Southland Sharks	Invercargill	Stadium Southland		Rob Beveridge	Courtney Belger	Josh Cunningham
Taranaki Mountainairs	New Plymouth	TSB Stadium		Trent Adam
Wellington Saints	Wellington	TSB Bank Arena		Zico Coronel	Romaro Gill	Kerwin Roach

Summary

In the final round of the regular season, due to an extreme weather event and major flooding across the top of the South Island, the games between the Manawatu Jets and Nelson Giants (Sunday 5pm) and Taranaki Mountainairs and Nelson Giants (Monday 7:30pm) were both cancelled. With the games not having an impact on the 2021 Final Four, the League advised neither clash would be rescheduled.^[3]

Regular season standings

Pos	Team	W	L	Qualification
1	Wellington Saints	16	2	Final Four
2	Hawke's Bay Hawks	13	5
3	Southland Sharks	13	5
4	Auckland Huskies	11	7
5	Canterbury Rams	9	9
6	Otago Nuggets	9	9
7	Nelson Giants	6	10
8	Franklin Bulls	5	13
9	Manawatu Jets	4	13
10	Taranaki Mountainairs	2	15

Updated to match(es) played on 17 July 2021. Source: NZNBL

Final Four

	Semi Finals					Final
	1	Wellington Saints	99
	4	Auckland Huskies	73
							Wellington Saints	77
							Hawke's Bay Hawks	75
	2	Hawke's Bay Hawks	98
	3	Southland Sharks	91

Awards

Statistics leaders

Stats as of the end of the regular season^[4][5][6]

Category	Player	Team	Stat
Points per game	Hunter Hale	Nelson Giants	26.9
Rebounds per game	Sam Timmins	Otago Nuggets	13.9
Assists per game	Courtney Belger	Southland Sharks	5.7
Steals per game	Hunter Hale	Nelson Giants	2.6
Blocks per game	DeAndre Daniels	Manawatu Jets	2.3

Regular season

• Most Valuable Player: Dion Prewster (Wellington Saints)^[7][8]
• Most Outstanding Guard: Dion Prewster (Wellington Saints)
• Most Outstanding NZ Guard: Dion Prewster (Wellington Saints)
• Most Outstanding Forward: Sam Timmins (Otago Nuggets)
• Most Outstanding NZ Forward/Centre: Sam Timmins (Otago Nuggets)
• Scoring Champion: Hunter Hale (Nelson Giants)
• Rebounding Champion: Sam Timmins (Otago Nuggets)
• Assist Champion: Courtney Belger (Southland Sharks)
• Most Improved Player: Sam Timmins (Otago Nuggets)
• Defensive Player of the Year: Dion Prewster (Wellington Saints)
• Youth Player of the Year: Zach Riley (Auckland Huskies)
• Coach of the Year: Zico Coronel (Wellington Saints)
• All-Star Five:
  • G: Dion Prewster (Wellington Saints)
  • G: Hunter Hale (Nelson Giants)
  • F: Dom Kelman-Poto (Southland Sharks)
  • F: Taane Samuel (Wellington Saints)
  • C: Sam Timmins (Otago Nuggets)

Final Four

• Grand Final MVP: Kerwin Roach (Wellington Saints)^[9][10]