Vodanovich on the Verge of NBL History

Think of some of the all-time great NBL players to win championships with multiple sides.

From Danny Morseu and Leroy Loggins, Larry Sengstock and Darryl McDonald, CJ Bruton and David Barlow, plenty of players have raised the NBL championship trophy wearing multiple uniforms over their careers.

Now think of the players to have done it two seasons in a row with two different sides. Are you drawing a blank? That’s not surprising. Just three players have achieved that remarkable feat.

Matt Garrison with the Hawks and 36ers in 2001 and 2002, six-time champion David Stiff with the 36ers and Kings in 2002 and 2003, and former All-NBL First Team member Casey Prather with the Wildcats and United in 2017 and 2018.

Garrison's achievement of this rare feat is made even more incredible by the fact he actually signed on with Cairns to begin the 2002 season, but only played seven games before his contract was cancelled - resulting in his title-winning move to the 36ers.

New Zealand’s Tom Vodanovich has the chance to become the fourth player to have achieved that feat this season should the Breakers overcome the Kings in the upcoming NBL23 Championship Series.

Former Perth and Melbourne import Casey Prather is the most recent player to win back-to-back titles with different teams in the NBL.

Breakers fan favourite and Tall Blacks representative Vodanovich began his professional career at the Breakers in 2018. After two years with the side, he headed to Luxembourg in 2020 before returning to the NBL via the Sydney Kings.

After a solitary season which earned a championship in the Harbour City, he returned to his home club and helped rebuild it from the ground up.

“There’s a common denominator there, hey?” Vodanovich told NBL Media when asked about the potential to go back-to-back. “It would be incredible – it’s tough to win anywhere.

“To win one then jump ship, head to another team which is based at home – to have the chance to compete for one and to be playing games at this time of year is special in itself, but to win again? I’ll let you know what it feels like after.

“We had a group of players in Sydney last year that really wanted to get the job done. I think if you can get a good group of people in the locker room like we have this year – and I think we had last year – then success can happen.”

The locker room vibe within the Breakers organisation has been covered well over the course of the season. Even captain Tom Abercrombie, the last remaining link between the current Breakers and the dominant side of the early 2010’s, believes there’s something special about the current crop of players.

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After taking over from former head coach Dan Shamir ahead of this season Mody Maor totally rebuilt the side from the top down.

He brought local heroes like Vodanovich and Izayah Le’Afa back to their homeland, added another calming veteran presence in Cam Gliddon, and recruited one of the most complementary import trios in NBL history in Barry Brown Jr, Jarrell Brantley and Dererk Pardon.

“Mody went out and intentionally brought in a specific group of guys that possess certain on-court and off-court characteristics,” Vodanovich said. “The fact we gelled so early wasn’t a surprise.

“From my first talk with coach I knew what he was trying to put together – the people he was trying to bring into the building.

“Bringing a bunch of Kiwis back to New Zealand was also a good start.

“It’s rare to have a team like this. It’s rare to have a group of people like this in general.

“Everyone comes in from different backgrounds and has had different experiences, but we all came in with a chip on our shoulder and something to prove, whether that was from last season or previous experiences.

“The way we started from day one, we felt the sky was the limit really. With the group we have there was no doubt in my mind we could get here."

Vodanovich celebrates winning last season's NBL title with the Kings.

Outside of Vodanovich there isn’t a huge amount of championship winning pedigree within this Breakers group - especially when compared to their Kings counterparts.

Of course there’s Tom Abercrombie with his four NBL titles and two NZNBL titles. Sam Timmins captained the Otago Nuggets to an NZNBL title last season, Le’Afa and Vodanovich himself have also claimed NZNBL title wins over their careers.

It’s also worth noting Gliddon was a member of the Cairns Taipans sides that fell to the Breakers in the 2011 and 2015 Championship Series’.

That’s why Vodanovich with him immediate history of success will be so important to this Breakers locker room over the next two-and-a-half weeks, but he believes winning the title this season would possess something extra that last season's triumph was missing.

“I think it would be massive,” he said. “I watched these guys growing up, I was a development player, I did the camps back in the day. I started my career and got my opportunity here.

“I went away and to win that championship last year was incredible. It was my first big title and to do it with a team I’d just joined in a new place was incredible.

“But that feeling if we have the chance to hold up that trophy this year will be that little bit extra special.

“My family has done a lot to get overseas and make the Sydney trips to watch me play, so to win at home would be incredible."

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Any ideas of the sports romanticism that would be on display should Vodanovich lift the title this season will be put on the backburner for the Breakers though. After all, they have a huge task ahead of them.

They showed both their strengths and their vulnerabilities in their three-game series win over Tasmania, and after a couple of weeks off Vodanovich believes his side is just about as ready as they’ll ever be.

“We had a couple of days off after the season finished. We really needed that after a tough month,” he said.

“Now it’s back to work. We need to focus on slowing them down, they’re a fast-paced team and we know what they bring to the table.

“There’s a lot of fine-tuning, I think. It’s about fine-tuning a few things and making sure we’re getting our bodies and our minds ready for a big series.”

Game 1 of the NBL23 Championship Series tips off on Friday, March 3 at 7:30pm AEDT – live and free on ESPN via Kayo Freebies, 10 Peach & 10 play.