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Hawke's Bay Hawks

Basketball team in Napier, New Zealand

Summary

Basketball team in Napier, New Zealand

Field	Value
name	Hawke's Bay Hawks
logo	Hawke's Bay Hawks new logo.png
league	NZNBL
history	Napier Sunhawks
1983–1985
Hawke's Bay Hawks
1986–1998; 2000–2019; 2021–
arena	Pettigrew Green Arena
location	Napier, Hawke's Bay,
New Zealand
colours	Black, grey, orange
sponsor	Big Barrel
president	Sally Crown
gm	Jarrod Kenny
coach	Will Lopez
championships	1 (2006)
ret_nums	2 (8, 14)
website	Hawks.org.nz
h_body	000000
h_pattern_b	_vneckyellowred
h_shorts	000000
h_pattern_s	_thinblacksides
a_body	ffffff
a_pattern_b	_thinblacksides
a_shorts	ffffff
a_pattern_s	_thinblacksides

1983–1985 Hawke's Bay Hawks 1986–1998; 2000–2019; 2021– New Zealand

The Hawke's Bay Hawks are a New Zealand professional basketball team based in Napier. The Hawks compete in the National Basketball League (NBL) and play their home games at Pettigrew Green Arena. For sponsorship reasons, they are known as the Big Barrel Hawks.

Team history

The Hawke's Bay Hawks, then known as the Napier Sunhawks, started in the second-tiered Conference Basketball League (CBL). After winning the CBL Invitation championship in 1982, the team was promoted to the National Basketball League (NBL) for the 1983 season. They made the semi-finals in 1983, before going on a nine-year playoff hiatus. The Hawks made the semi-finals every year between 1993 and 1997, including playing in their first NBL championship series in 1995, where they lost 2–0 to the Auckland Stars.

In 1998, the Hawks finished tenth in the 11-team competition. They subsequently withdrew from the NBL and joined the CBL for the 1999 season. After finishing as CBL runners-up in 1999, the Hawks returned to the NBL in 2000.

In 2004, the Hawks made their first NBL playoff appearance since 1997. They went on to reach the championship round three years in a row between 2005 and 2007, which included them winning their maiden NBL championship in 2006 with an 84–69 victory over the Auckland Stars in the final. The Hawks continued to play in the post-season every year between 2008 and 2012, including making the final in 2011 and winning their first minor premiership in 2012. After missing the playoffs in 2013, the Hawks' 2014 season saw them win second minor premiership and reach the championship round for the sixth time.

Between 2015 and 2017, the Hawks had a three-year playoff hiatus, including a winless campaign in 2016. They returned to the playoffs in 2018, before reaching the NBL final in 2019, where they lost 78–68 to the Wellington Saints despite leading 59–38 midway through the third quarter.

The Hawks sat out the 2020 season due to the COVID-19 pandemic. They returned in 2021 and reached their eighth NBL final, where they once again lost to the Wellington Saints.

Honour roll

Most Improved Player:	Ethan Rusbatch (2019)

Source: Hawks NBL Role of Honour

Players

Current roster

Notable past players

New Zealand Marco Alexander
United States Kerry Boagni
United States Brandon Bowman
Nigeria / United States Suleiman Braimoh
United States / New Zealand Willie Burton
United States / New Zealand Clifton Bush
New Zealand Aidan Daly
United States Jamie Dixon
New Zealand Paul Henare
New Zealand Jeremy Kench
Australia Daniel Kickert
New Zealand / Australia Adrian Majstrovich
Australia Scott McGregor
United States Chris Porter
United States / New Zealand Dion Prewster
United States / Australia Dusty Rychart
United States E. J. Singler
New Zealand Paora Winitana

References

(19 June 2025). "Hawks retire No 14 to honour the career of Willie Burton". NZ Herald.
"2010 Conference Basketball League". Basketball.org.nz.
"2005 League Handbook". Basketball.org.nz.
"Team Awards". hawks.org.nz.
"1995 NBL CHAMPIONS: AUCKLAND STARS". nznbl.basketball.
(25 August 1999). "CBL Final". plug.co.nz.
"New Zealand Basketball League".
"2006 NBL CHAMPIONS: HAWKE'S BAY HAWKS". nznbl.basketball.
(10 July 2006). "Hawks win NZNBL title". NBL.com.au.
Anderson, Niall. (9 May 2016). "Promise for Bay Hawks despite 0-14 record". nzherald.co.nz.
(21 July 2019). "Saints vs Hawks". FIBALiveStats.com.
Smith, Tony. (21 July 2019). "Wellington Saints claim 11th NBL title with stunning comeback win over Hawks". Stuff.co.nz.
Singh, Anendra. (21 July 2019). "Basketball: Wellington Saints claw back to end Hawks' fairy-tale Final 4 run for 11th NBL title". nzherald.co.nz.
(16 May 2020). "Taylor Hawks will not enter the modified 2020 Sal's NBL Competition". hawks.org.nz.
(23 July 2021). "Wellington Saints continue NBL dominance with grand final win over Hawke's Bay Hawks". Stuff.co.nz.

Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

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