The Hawke's Bay Hawks are a New Zealand

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

team based in Napier. The Hawks compete in the National Basketball League (NBL) and play their home games at

Pettigrew Green Arena Pettigrew Green Arena is a multi-purpose indoor sports and entertainment centre in Taradale, a suburb of Napier in New Zealand, that opened in April 2003. It regularly hosts volleyball, basketball and netball matches for Hawke's Bay representati ...

. For sponsorship reasons, they are known as the Taylor Hawks.

Team history

The Hawke's Bay Hawks, then known as the Napier Sunhawks, started in the second-tiered

Conference Basketball League The Conference Basketball League (CBL) was a second-tiered men's semi-professional basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with th ...

(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 File:1993 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Oslo I Accord is signed in an attempt to resolve the Israeli–Palestinian conflict; The Russian White House is shelled during the 1993 Russian constitutional crisis; Czechoslovakia is peace ...

and

1997 File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; ''Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of t ...

, including playing in their first NBL championship series in

1995 File:1995 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: O.J. Simpson is O. J. Simpson murder case, acquitted of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman from the 1994, year prior in "The Trial of the Century" in the United States; The ...

, where they lost 2–0 to the

Auckland Stars The Auckland Stars were a New Zealand basketball team based in Auckland. The Stars competed in the National Basketball League (NBL) and played their home games at ASB Stadium. Team history The Auckland Stars, then known as Auckland Metro, were ...

. In

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The '' Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently ...

, 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 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from ...

. In

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 6 ...

, 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 File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; "Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discovered in ...

and

2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister of Pakistan, Pr ...

, which included them winning their maiden NBL championship in

2006 File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, votes to declare ...

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 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

and

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...

, including making the final in

2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...

and winning their first minor premiership in 2012. After missing the playoffs in

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fact ...

, the Hawks' 2014 season saw them win second minor premiership and reach the championship round for the sixth time. Between

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the Apri ...

and

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a ser ...

, the Hawks had a three-year playoff hiatus, including a winless campaign in

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh ...

. They returned to the playoffs in

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...

, before reaching the NBL final in

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

, where they lost 78–68 to the

Wellington Saints The Wellington Saints are a New Zealand basketball team based in Wellington. The Saints compete in the National Basketball League (NBL) and play their home games at TSB Bank Arena. Team history The Wellington Saints were founded in 1981. In 1 ...

despite leading 59–38 midway through the third quarter. The Hawks sat out the 2020 season due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

. They returned in

2021 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état, coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October–November 2021 ...

and reached their eighth NBL final, where they once again lost to the Wellington Saints.

Honour roll

Source
Hawks NBL Role of Honour

Players

Current roster

Notable past players

* Marco Alexander * Zack Atkinson *

Kerry Boagni Kerry Martin Boagni (born September 24, 1964) is an American former professional basketball player. A native of California, he played college basketball for the Cal State Fullerton Titans before being drafted by the Utah Jazz in the 1986 NBA dra ...

* Brandon Bowman * / Suleiman Braimoh * /

Willie Burton Willie Ricardo Burton (born May 26, 1968) is an American former professional basketball player who was selected by the Miami Heat in the first round (9th overall pick) in the 1990 NBA draft from the University of Minnesota. Burton played for nume ...

* / Clifton Bush * Troy Coleman *

Aidan Daly Aidan Craig Daly (born 22 August 1978) is a New Zealand former basketball player who played 18 seasons in the National Basketball League (NBL), including 12 with the Hawke's Bay Hawks. High school Daly attended Napier Boys' High School and N ...

* Thomas DeMarcus *

Jamie Dixon James Patrick Dixon II (born November 10, 1965) is an American college basketball coach who is the head coach of the TCU Horned Frogs men's team, where he played college ball. He previously served as the head coach of the University of Pittsbu ...

* Terry Giles * Paul Henare * Darryl Johnson *

Jeremy Kench Jeremy Brian Kench (born 27 April 1984) is a New Zealand former professional basketball player who played 12 seasons in the New Zealand National Basketball League (NZNBL). Playing career Kench attended former powerhouse Christchurch basketbal ...

Daniel Kickert Daniel Michael Kickert (born 29 May 1983) is an Australian professional basketball coach and former player who is an assistant coach for the Sydney Kings of the National Basketball League (NBL). He played professionally for 15 seasons througho ...

* /

Adrian Majstrovich Adrian "A. J." Majstrovich (born 9 February 1980) is a New Zealand-Australian former professional basketball player. He spent the majority of his 20-year career playing in the Australian NBL, New Zealand NBL and State Basketball League (SBL) ...

* Shaun McCreedy * Scott McGregor * Chris Porter * /

Dion Prewster Dion Anthony Prewster (born 10 January 1990) is an American-born New Zealand professional basketball player for the Sandringham Sabres of the NBL1 South. He played college basketball for San Jacinto College and Stephen F. Austin State University ...

* /

Dusty Rychart Dusty Mike Rychart (born August 11, 1978) is an Australian-American professional basketball player for the Brisbane Capitals of the Queensland Basketball League (QBL). College career Rychart attended the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis wh ...

* Dustin Scott * E. J. Singler * Byron Vaetoe * Robert Wilson * Paora Winitana

References

External links

Official team website
* {{National Basketball League (New Zealand) Basketball teams established in 1982 1982 establishments in New Zealand Basketball teams in New Zealand National Basketball League (New Zealand) teams Sport in the Hawke's Bay Region