Two days ago Mojave King wasn't even in New Zealand. Sunday, he'll be lining up for the BNZ Breakers against Illawarra in the club's NBL27 season opener at Spark Arena.

King's arrived as injury replacement cover, brought in fast, and he's under no illusions about how much prep time that leaves him.

Familiar Faces, Fast Learning Curve

What's made the whole thing workable, King reckons, is that he's not walking into a completely unknown setup. He knows the club, knows the league, and has crossed paths with plenty of his new teammates before.

"You can only learn so much in a couple of days, but it is a lot of familiar stuff with the national team, and I have played with or against a lot of the guys, so I am familiar with a lot of their games," King said at final practice today.

He credited the coaching staff for keeping things straightforward rather than overwhelming him right before his first game back.

"The coaches have done a good job just making it as simple as possible for me, not overloading with too much information and keeping it as simple as they can heading into tomorrow."

An Easy Call to Make

When President of Basketball Dillon Boucher rang with the offer, King says there wasn't much to think over.

"100% I was super excited when I heard about the opportunity to come back to the BNZ Breakers and it was something I had a lot of interest in as soon as I heard about it," he said.

He'd also more or less expected the timeline to move quickly, given how the international basketball calendar lines up around this time of year.

"As far as everything moving fast, I figured on that having to happen based on the timeline and most of the leagues around the world start around this time so when I was training that is what I was preparing for, to be ready to go as soon as I got the call."

Watching From Afar, Liking What He Saw

Even before the call came, King had been following the NBL closely, particularly the off-season player movement and some of the bigger signings around the league. He says the overall standard keeps climbing year on year, and he's been genuinely impressed by what the Breakers themselves have done in the off-season.

"Especially here we have made some good moves, we are really well balanced, we are going to have a lot of different threats, and we are going to be well balanced defensively as well," King said. "We have a lot of guys who want to sit down and get stops so I am excited to be a part of this group, we are going to surprise a lot of people just how well we will play as a team."

Sunday's Roster

King has officially been named in the 12-player roster for the season opener.

#

Player

Country

Position

0

Carlin Davison

NZL

Forward

2

Izayah Le'afa

NZL

Guard

3

Sam Mennenga

NZL

Centre

4

Tukaha Cooper

NZL

Guard

6

Parker Jackson-Cartwright

USA

Guard

7

Reuben Te Rangi

NZL

Forward

8

Charles Bediako

CAN

Centre

9

Mojave King

NZL

Guard

12

Kouat Noi

S Sudan

Forward

13

Anzac Rissetto

NZL

Centre

21

Kael Robinson

NZL

Guard

34

Dejan Vasiljevic

AUS

Guard

Game Details


Date

Sunday, September 20

Venue

Spark Arena

Doors Open

4pm

Tip Off

5pm

Opponent

Illawarra Hawks

Tickets

ticketmaster.co.nz

Why This Matters Heading Into Sunday

Slotting a new signing into a season opener within 48 hours of them landing isn't exactly ideal preparation, but King's history with the club and familiarity with much of the league seem to have shortened what would otherwise be a much steeper learning curve. Whether that translates into meaningful minutes on court Sunday remains to be seen, but the Breakers clearly see enough in King's readiness, and his read on this year's squad, to trust him in the opening night roster.


This article is based on a media release issued by the BNZ Breakers.