New Zealand Breakers’ Rollercoaster NBL25 Season: All The Highs & Lows

A Frustrating season for a New Zealand Breakers Fan

The Breakers were 7-2 going into the FIBA international window, Parker Jackson-Cartwright was at the top of the MVP ladder, and Karim Lopez took the league by storm. But then the Breakers' management went against what was working and changed what wasn’t broken.

Here are the “Positives” and “Negatives” of the New Zealand Breakers NBL25 season.

Positive: Parker Jackson-Cartwright

The front runner for the MVP award after 9 games had a hell of a season. If you put everything to mind, with the change of big man (completely different play-style) and suspension against the Tasmania JackJumpers, PJC’s season was completely overshadowed by things almost out of his control.

PJC averaged 18 points per game, 6 assists and 1 steal per game, which is no mean feat considering the losing run the Breakers went on throughout the last half of the season.

That’s likely the last of PJC in a Breakers jersey, even though the owners have thrown the largest-ever Breakers contact to him for an extension. His body language in the last part of the season showcased how frustrated he was with the losing streak.

Negative: Tacko Fall

Let me get this straight, this isn’t really about Tacko Fall as a basketball player. It’s just the way he entered the league, the way he was thrown into a system that was clearly made for a more athletic, quick big man.

The move made no sense, other than to gain more attraction on social media due to the huge frame Tacko beholds.

Tacko showed signs of life, signs of the experiment getting close to working, but ultimately, the

Breakers were 7-3 with Freddie Gillespie before the FIBA break, and 3-16 with Tacko Fall on the

roster. The numbers speak for themselves.

Positive: Karim Lopez

The 17-year-old Mexican had big question marks heading into NBL25 but quickly established himself as one of the best prospects in the league. His rebounding and effort on the defensive end was what elevated him to the starting lineup for a chunk of the season under Petteri Koponen.

It was a rapid rise for the Mexican, who then became an important role player for the NZ Breakers, scoring a decent rate and shooting the ball on a high clip from the outside.

The biggest thing about the NBL Next Stars program is that players can be signed for two years. Lopez having another season in the NBA to develop his game and grow as a professional will do the world of good for this South American baller.

Negative: Breakers x NBA trip

I personally have been saying this for a while, but other than money for Matt Walsh’s pockets, and a cool opportunity for some of the young players on the roster, this trip does nothing but bad things for the franchise.

I understand there’s money involved, and some players get some exposure to good scouts. But Breakers fans want wins in the NBL, and this trip does everything but help that quest. It’s time to put the NBL season first, stopping the money-grabbing experience for our owners, and start focusing on our league aspirations.

Positive: Petteri Koponen

In his first-ever season as a head coach, let alone an NBL head coach, Koponen had a tough run with multiple external factors contributing to the Breakers 2025 downfall. Koponen as a coach plays a heavily European-based style that many pundits had questions about going into the season.

It worked, the game plan looked solid, which confused teams that were used to playing in such a high-paced league. In saying that, it was helped by a brilliant defensive core that was doing their job on the defensive end. We haven’t even mentioned Parker Jackson-Cartwright who was the MVP frontrunner before Freddie Gillespie was jokingly removed from the roster and replaced with Tacko Fall.

Coach Kop’s sets on offence were effective, with lots of on-ball screens and shooting that was new in the NBL.

As the season went on, there were more questionable decisions made by Koponen, including weird bench timings and rotations that fans couldn’t figure out. The negative record can’t be put on the shoulders of Koponen, who deserves a second season in charge.

Negative: Breakers Owners (Only in recent times), Matt Walsh and Lisa Edser

A year ago, I probably wouldn’t have been writing about the poor decisions that the Breakers owners have made. This year there have been some mind-boggling decisions that no fans agree with (that I’ve spoken to).

Since we’ve already spoken about the NBL x NBA trip, let’s move to the Tacko experiment. Shocking decision to make fans/members pay $30 to see Tacko Fall in Auckland. Just doesn’t sit right with me, and once again reinforces where their intentions lie.

Then there’s Tacko Fall being there throughout the early parts of the season on a train and trial type thing. Before making the move that everyone saw coming, dropping Gillespie and adding Tacko Fall when the Breakers were sitting pretty at the top of the table.

You can also add the zero communication and responsibility shown by the Breakers’ two leaders, who haven’t owned the mistakes or tried to rectify them.

Work to do, with lots of explanation needed.

Positive: Spark Arena

Not only is Spark Arena the home of the Breakers, they historically play better there (seems obvious), but this season has been different.

The Breakers have decided to play games all around the country to engage other fans, cool, I get it, but the Breakers have bad records in all of those cities and have often cost them important victories.

With the delay of games this year against Melbourne United, there's just no reason to play the amount of regular season games away from Spark Arena that they do.

They should play pre-season ones there, and pre-season only. Maybe one in another city per season.

Negative: New Zealand Breakers' Season

NBL25 started with hope and promise and ended with disappointment and anger. The Breakers are still searching for the New Zealand identity they once possessed, which will be key in a Breakers revival in 2026.