"One of the biggest signings in NBL history"

On Wednesday, the New Zealand Breakers unveiled the massive signing of Gordon Herbert as their Head Coach for the next two seasons.

Before taking over the Canadian men's national team, which Herbert will balance with his Breakers role, the 67-year-old spent time in Germany, with both the national team (winning the 2023 FIBA World Cup gold medal) and clubs such as Bayern Munich, Skyliners Frankfurt, Alba Berlin and s.Oliver Würzburg.

He plied his trade in the NBA (as an assistant coach with Toronto), France (Paris Basket Racing and Élan Béarnais Pau-Orthez), Finland (Korihait and Espoon Honka), Austria (Oberwart Gunners), Greece (Aris) and Russia (Avtodor).

As such, the Canadian-born coach comes to the Hungry Jack’s NBL with as impressive a record as any coach in world basketball, which isn’t lost on ESPN’s Olgun Uluc.

“This is one of the biggest signings in NBL history,” Uluc said on The Marketplace, presented by Paywise.

“‘This is a World Cup-winning head coach, winning it with the German national team in 2023. I was at that World Cup over in Asia, and that was an incredible accomplishment.

“He's now the head coach of the Canadian national team, and recently the head coach of Bayern Munich.

“[This is] one of the most accomplished and decorated head coaches across Europe over the past decade, and he’s coming to the NBL, joining the New Zealand Breakers.

“This is an exciting day, not just for the Breakers, but the NBL.”

Equal in his praise for both Herbert and New Zealand was fellow panellist Pete Hooley.

“It is one of the biggest signings we've seen in NBL,” Hooley said.

“It absolutely is [the most credentialed coach to arrive in the NBL] and Breakers fans should be up and about this.

“Any club in the world would want to speak with Gordon Herbert.

“You talk about the resume, everything he's achieved, and everything he's yet to achieve, being the head coach of the Canadian national team. This is a team that is not just making up the numbers when they go to these world tournaments; they are legitimate gold medal threats with two-time NBA MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.

“He’s obviously going to be focused on winning tournaments with them, but also put the New Zealand Breakers in the best position to try and win NBL Championships.

“Credit to New Zealand and Dillon Boucher for going out there and landing this, because it is a super exciting and monumental moment for the whole League. I can’t wait to see him on the sidelines in the NBL.”

While this deal had been reported on in recent weeks, Uluc explains why the negotiations between the coach and club took time.

“It sounded like the conversations the entire time were quite positive, and there were just some complexities of having someone of his stature working on the international stage,” Uluc said.

“It was just about how we're going to make this work logistically, and they've managed to do that, because this is one of those signings that until the contract arrives, you're still on edge.

“You're on tenterhooks, and you're wondering if someone is about to swoop in, because his resume speaks for itself.

“He’s now got a fascinating team in front of him [in New Zealand], so I’m keen to see what he can do with it.”

That squad Uluc alludes to features Parker Jackson-Cartwright, Sam Mennenga, Dejan Vasiljevic, Reuben Te Rangi, Carlin Davison, Izayah Le’Afa and Preston Le Gassick for the Hungry Jack’s NBL27 Season.

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