Maor: 'One of the hardest decisions ever'

Departing Breakers head coach Mody Maor has labelled his decision to leave New Zealand “as hard of a professional and personal decision as it gets”, following Thursday’s surprise announcement he has been released from his contract to reportedly continue his career in Japan.

The announcement brings about the end of a five-year stint with the the club, the first three of which came as an assistant under countryman Dan Shamir.

Since he took the reins as head coach in 2022 following a wooden spoon finish, he led the Breakers to a Championship Series against the Sydney Kings and a further Finals campaign in NBL24.

He says his move away from the club, whilst difficult, is the right thing to do in the context of his career.

“It’s really one of the hardest decisions I’ve ever needed to make. In so many layers my sweat is in this floor, and I love everything this organisation stands for,” Maor said. “I was extremely excited about the things we were going to achieve in the next season.

“Leaving all that behind and saying goodbye to the place and the people is really, really hard, but part of being an adult and being a coach is making the hard decisions, and you only face the hard decisions when there are two good options.

“When you weigh everything together the decision to leave is the right path for me and my family … my path or my goals in my career are not to coach in a certain place. My personal trajectory and goals are to master my craft and be the best coach I can be.

“When you go into a different environment with different challenges it helps you become better. It challenges and stimulates you in different ways and that’s part of the reason I’m embarking on this.”

Although Maor’s journey with the Breakers saw them come close an NBL title, the club is now almost a decade removed since its last crown.

Maor led the club to its first post-season appearance since 2018 in the defeated NBL23 campaign, and almost saw New Zealand become the first side to win a championship straight after finishing bottom of the ladder, since the South Dragons in 2009.

However, that wait for a fifth NBL title goes on, and Maor says the fact he was unable to bring a championship back to New Zealand is something that does not sit well with him.

“I feel very disappointed I wasn’t able to add one at all, and that’s definitely not something that goes by,” he said.

“I wanted to leave this place better than I found it, but I also really wanted to win.

“I wanted to bring a championship to this organisation, these fans and these people, and falling short will always leave me with a little bit of a sense of unfinished business.”

Although Maor stated he was “not supposed to say” which club has secured his services, it has been widely reported he is set to link up with former star import Jarrell Brantley at Nagasaki Velca.

Former Melbourne United wing Yudai Baba and assistant coach Kenjiro Maeda were both involved in the most recent B. League campaign, in which they finished 17th in the 24 team competition.

Breakers CEO Lisa Edser, while not understating the magnitude of Maor’s departure, says the club’s recruitment drive for players – and now a head coach – will not slow in his absence.

“I don’t want it to seem like Mody moving on is not significant, but we work as a team and there are still people around,” Edser said.

“I don’t want to put a timeframe on [hiring a new coach], because it has to be the right person. The fit has to be right and that’s what the focus is.”

After initially only having Dane Pineau contracted for the NBL25 season, New Zealand re-signed Parker Jackson-Cartwright and added Mitch McCarron, Jonah Bolden, Mojave King and Sam Mennenga to the roster prior to Maor’s departure.