Tai Jack Webster (born 29 May 1995) is a New Zealand professional

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 (appro ...

player for

JL Bourg Basket Jeunesse Laïque de Bourg-en-Bresse, commonly known as JL Bourg or simply Bourg, is a basketball club based in Bourg-en-Bresse, France that plays in the LNB Élite, the national top division. Their home arena is Ekinox, which has a capacity of 3, ...

of the

LNB Élite The LNB Élite, currently known for sponsorship reasons as Betclic Élite, is a professional basketball league in France and is the highest level of the French basketball system. The competition has existed since 1921. Since 1987, the Ligue Nat ...

. After starting his career in New Zealand, Webster played

college basketball College basketball is basketball that is played by teams of Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. In the Higher education in the United States, United States, colleges and universities are governed by collegiate athle ...

for the

Nebraska Cornhuskers The Nebraska Cornhuskers (often abbreviated to Huskers) are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Nebraska–Lincoln. The university is a member of the Big Ten Conference and competes in NCAA Division I, fielding t ...

, earning second-team All-

Big Ten The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference, among others) is a collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representatives in 1 ...

as a senior in 2017. He went on to play professionally in Germany and Turkey before having a season with the

New Zealand Breakers The New Zealand Breakers (also known as the Bank of New Zealand, BNZ Breakers for sponsorship reasons) are a New Zealand professional basketball team based in Auckland. The Breakers are the only non-Australian side currently competing in Austral ...

in the Australian National Basketball League (NBL) in 2020–21. After playing in Lithuania and again in Turkey, he joined the

Perth Wildcats The Perth Wildcats are an Australian professional basketball team based in Perth, Western Australia. The Wildcats compete in the National Basketball League (Australia), National Basketball League (NBL) and play their home games at Perth Arena, ...

in 2023.

Early career

Born in

Auckland Auckland ( ; ) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. It has an urban population of about It is located in the greater Auckland Region, the area governed by Auckland Council, which includes outlying rural areas and ...

, Webster attended

Westlake Boys High School Westlake Boys High School () is a state secondary school for boys in Forrest Hill, New Zealand, Forrest Hill, Auckland, New Zealand. The school opened in 1962, when Westlake High School (opened 1958) split into Westlake Girls High School on the ...

and played for North Harbour Basketball. Webster joined the Auckland Pirates of the New Zealand National Basketball League (NZNBL) for the 2012 season, playing two games for a team that won the championship.Player statistics for Tai Webster
/ref> He subsequently joined the

of the Australian NBL as a non-contracted development player for the

2012–13 NBL season The 2012–13 NBL season was the 35th season of competition since its establishment in 1979. A total of eight teams contested the league. The regular season was played between 5 October 2012 and 24 March 2013, followed by a post-season which inv ...

. In December 2012, Webster signed a

National Letter of Intent The National Letter of Intent (NLI) is a document used to indicate a student athlete's commitment to participating in National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) colleges and universities in the United States. The NCAA Eligibility Center manag ...

to play

at the

University of Nebraska–Lincoln The University of Nebraska–Lincoln (Nebraska, NU, or UNL) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Lincoln, Nebraska, United States. Chartered in 1869 by the Nebraska Legislature as part of the M ...

. He had never heard of Nebraska when he was recruited, but signed with the team anyway. Webster joined the

Waikato Pistons The Waikato Pistons were a basketball team based in Hamilton, Waikato, New Zealand. The team competed in the National Basketball League (NBL) under different names between 1982 and 2014, with absent years in 1983 and 2012. Team history The Wai ...

for the

2013 New Zealand NBL season The 2013 NBL season was the 32nd season of the National Basketball League. The 2013 season saw the withdrawal of the Auckland Pirates and Harbour Heat, but saw the return of the Waikato Pistons after a one-year hiatus as well as the Super C ...

. In 15 games, he averaged 18.5 points, 3.9 rebounds, 4.4 assists and 2.0 steals per game.

College career

Freshman year

As a freshman for the

in 2013–14, Webster was an immediate contributor, averaging 3.9 points, 2.1 rebounds and 2.0 assists in 32 games (30 starts) while helping the Huskers reach the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 1998. He led Nebraska with 63 assists and was also among the team leaders in steals. Webster reached double figures four times, including a season-high 14 points against Georgia, and paced the squad in assists eight times. His season-best was five assists on three occasions.

Sophomore year

As a sophomore in 2014–15, Webster backed up starters

Terran Petteway Terran Petteway (born October 8, 1992) is an American professional basketball player for Darkhan United of The League (Mongolia), The League. He played college basketball for Texas Tech University and the University of Nebraska–Lincoln, Univers ...

and Shavon Shields. In 30 games (four starts), he averaged 3.9 points, 1.9 rebounds and 1.2 assists in 18.4 minutes per game. Webster called the season "hugely disappointing" since his work in practice did not translate to higher production than as a freshman.

Junior year

As a junior in 2015–16, Webster joined the Nebraska starting lineup. He averaged 10.1 points, 4.1 rebounds and 1.9 assists in 27.7 minutes per game.

Senior year

As a senior in 2016–17, Webster averaged 17.0 points, 5.1 rebounds and 4.0 assists in 34.7 minutes per game. Leading up to the NBA draft, many thought Webster could be a "second-round sleeper."

College statistics

, - , style="text-align:left;", 2013–14 , style="text-align:left;",

Nebraska Nebraska ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Ka ...

, 32 , , 30 , , 22.8 , , .304 , , .171 , , .619 , , 2.1 , , 2.0 , , 0.8 , , 0.1 , , 3.9 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2014–15 , style="text-align:left;",

, 30 , , 4 , , 18.4 , , .358 , , .231 , , .737 , , 1.9 , , 1.2 , , 0.7 , , 0.1 , , 3.9 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2015–16 , style="text-align:left;",

, 34 , , 18 , , 27.7 , , .474 , , .350 , , .740 , , 4.1 , , 1.9 , , 1.4 , , 0.4 , , 10.1 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2016–17 , style="text-align:left;",

, 31 , , 31 , , 34.7 , , .421 , , .294 , , .744 , , 5.1 , , 4.0 , , 1.4 , , 0.1 , , 17.0 , - , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 127 , , 83 , , 25.9 , , .414 , , .279 , , .715 , , 3.3 , , 2.3 , , 1.0 , , 0.2 , , 8.8 , -

Professional career

After going undrafted in the

2017 NBA draft The 2017 NBA draft was held on June 22, 2017, at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. National Basketball Association (NBA) teams took turns selecting U.S. college basketball players and other eligible players, including international players. ...

, Webster played for the

Golden State Warriors The Golden State Warriors are an American professional basketball team based in San Francisco. The Warriors compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Pacific Division of the Western Conference. Founded in 1946 i ...

during the 2017 NBA Summer League in Las Vegas. He later signed with the

Skyliners Frankfurt The Skyliners Frankfurt, formerly known as Fraport Skyliners for sponsorship reasons, are a professional basketball club based in Frankfurt, Germany. Their home arena is Ballsporthalle. The club has played in the Basketball Bundesliga since 19 ...

in Germany for the 2017–18 season. He posted 14.9 points, 3.6 rebounds, and 3.8 assists per game in his rookie season. On 7 August 2018, Webster signed with the Turkish team

Galatasaray Galatasaray Spor Kulübü (, ''Galatasaray Sports Club''), more commonly referred to as simply Galatasaray and familiarly as Cimbom, is a Turkish sports club based on the European side of the city of Istanbul including basketball, wheelchair ...

. He re-signed with Galatasaray on 7 August 2019. On 15 July 2020, Webster signed a one-year contract with the

, returning to the team for a second stint. On 9 April 2021, he was ruled out for four weeks with an

Achilles In Greek mythology, Achilles ( ) or Achilleus () was a hero of the Trojan War who was known as being the greatest of all the Greek warriors. The central character in Homer's ''Iliad'', he was the son of the Nereids, Nereid Thetis and Peleus, ...

injury. Webster averaged 17.2 points, 4.9 rebounds, and 4.9 assists per game during the 2020–21 season. On 11 July 2021, Webster re-signed with the Breakers on a two-year deal. However, on 20 September 2021, he was released by the Breakers reportedly due to his refusal to get the

COVID-19 vaccine A COVID19 vaccine is a vaccine intended to provide acquired immunity against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), the virus that causes coronavirus disease 2019 ( COVID19). Knowledge about the structure and fun ...

. On 2 November 2021, Webster signed with Lithuanian team Žalgiris Kaunas for the rest of the 2021–22 season. On 31 July 2022, Webster signed with

Petkim Spor Petkim Spor Kulübü, more commonly known as Socar Spor is a Turkish professional basketball club based in İzmir which currently competes in the Turkish Basketball Super League (BSL). The team was founded by Petkim in 2013 and got promoted to th ...

of the Turkish

Basketball Super League 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 (appro ...

. He was released on 30 December 2022. On 2 January 2023, Webster signed with the

in Australia for the rest of the 2022–23 NBL season. He played for the

Otago Nuggets The Otago Nuggets are a New Zealand professional men's basketball team based in Dunedin. The Nuggets compete in the National Basketball League (NBL) and play their home games at the Edgar Centre. For sponsorship reasons, they are known as the ...

during the 2023 New Zealand NBL season. Webster returned to the Wildcats for the

2023–24 NBL season The 2023–24 NBL season was the 46th season of the National Basketball League since its establishment in 1979. A total of ten teams contested in the 2023–24 season. Australian broadcast rights to the season are held by ESPN in the third seas ...

and averaged 8.9 points, 2.8 rebounds, 2.7 assists and 0.9 steals per game, while shooting at 46 per cent from the field. Webster re-joined the Nuggets for the

2024 New Zealand NBL season The 2024 NBL season was the 43rd season of the National Basketball League. The competition increased to 11 teams in 2024 with the Tauranga Whai joining the league for the first time. The 2024 season saw the return of a pre-season blitz for the ...

. On 2 May 2024, he scored a career-high 40 points in a 96–85 loss to the

Canterbury Rams The Canterbury Rams are a New Zealand professional men's basketball team based in Christchurch. The Rams compete in the National Basketball League (NBL) and play their home games at Cowles Stadium. For sponsorship reasons, they are known as Th ...

. Webster re-joined the Wildcats for

2024–25 NBL season The 2024–25 NBL season was the 47th season of the National Basketball League since its establishment in 1979. A total of ten teams contested in the 2024–25 season. The league extended its partnership with ESPN Australia. All games are availa ...

. He missed five games over the first half of the season and then on 19 December 2024, he was ruled out for six weeks with a hamstring injury. On 6 March 2025, Webster signed with

of the French

National team career

In 2012, Webster represented

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

at the

FIBA World Olympic Qualifying Tournament The FIBA World Olympic Qualifying Tournament, abbreviated as FIBA World OQT, and formerly known as the FIBA Pre-Olympic Basketball Tournament, is the last qualifying tournament for the Olympic Basketball Tournament. The best non-champions from th ...

, where he averaged 13.5 points per game. He went on to represent New Zealand at the

2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup The 2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup was the 17th edition of the FIBA Basketball World Cup, the tournament previously known as the FIBA World Championship. The tournament was held from 30 August to 14 September 2014. Hosted by Spain, it was the la ...

and the 2016 FIBA World Olympic Qualifying Tournament.

Career statistics

EuroLeague

, - , align="left" , 2021–22 , align="left" , Žalgiris , 21 , , 7 , , 12.5 , , .326 , , .222 , , .739 , , .9 , , 1.6 , , .3 , , .1 , , 4.0 , , 2.0 , - class="sortbottom" , align="center" colspan="2", Career , 21 , , 7 , , 12.5 , , .326 , , .222 , , .739 , , .9 , , 1.6 , , .3 , , .1 , , 4.0 , , 2.0

Personal life

Webster is the son of Tony and Cherry Webster. His father played college basketball for

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; ) is an island U.S. state, state of the United States, in the Pacific Ocean about southwest of the U.S. mainland. One of the two Non-contiguous United States, non-contiguous U.S. states (along with Alaska), it is the only sta ...

and played professionally in New Zealand. His older brother, Corey, also plays professional basketball. As of January 2024, Webster had a son. In May 2024, he joined his partner in the U.S. ahead of the birth of their child.

References

External links

Perth Wildcats profileEuroLeague profileNebraska Cornhuskers bioWashingtonPost.com profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Webster, Tai 1995 births Living people 2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup players 2019 FIBA Basketball World Cup players Auckland Pirates players Basketball players from Auckland BC Žalgiris players Galatasaray S.K. (men's basketball) players Nebraska Cornhuskers men's basketball players New Zealand Breakers players New Zealand expatriate basketball people in the United States New Zealand expatriate basketball people in Germany New Zealand expatriate basketball people in Lithuania New Zealand expatriate basketball people in Turkey New Zealand men's basketball players New Zealand people of African-American descent Otago Nuggets players Perth Wildcats players Petkim Spor players Point guards Shooting guards Skyliners Frankfurt players Waikato Pistons players 21st-century New Zealand sportsmen