Jordan Ngatai

Last updated

Jordan Ngatai
No. 11–Wellington Saints
Position Small forward
League NZNBL
Personal information
Born (1993-03-07) 7 March 1993 (age 32)
Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
NationalityNew Zealand
Listed height196 cm (6 ft 5 in)
Listed weight100 kg (220 lb)
Career information
High school Mana College
(Porirua, New Zealand)
College
NBA draft 2014: undrafted
Playing career2012–present
Career history
2012 Wellington Saints
2014Wellington Saints
2014–2020 New Zealand Breakers
2015 Manawatu Jets
2016 Taranaki Mountainairs
2017–2019Wellington Saints
2020 Otago Nuggets
2020–2022 Cairns Taipans
2022Wellington Saints
2023–2024 Hawke's Bay Hawks
2023–2024 Pyrintö
2024–2025 Kapfenberg Bulls
2025–presentWellington Saints
Career highlights
Medals
Men's basketball
Representing Flag of New Zealand.svg  New Zealand
Commonwealth Games
Bronze medal icon (B initial).svg 2018 Gold Coast

Jordan Ngatai (born 7 March 1993) is a New Zealand professional basketball player for the Wellington Saints of the New Zealand National Basketball League (NZNBL). He played six seasons with the New Zealand Breakers in the Australian NBL and is a regular New Zealand Tall Black. In the New Zealand NBL, he is a five-time champion.

Contents

Early life and career

Ngatai was born in Sydney, New South Wales, in the suburb of Paddington. [1] [2] He was raised in New Zealand, in Porirua and Ngāti Toa, [3] where he attended Mana College. [4]

In 2012–13, Ngatai played college basketball for Sierra College in the United States. In 2013–14, he played for BYU–Hawaii. [5]

Professional career

Ngatai made his debut in the New Zealand NBL in 2012 with the Wellington Saints. [6] In his second season with Wellington in 2014, he won his first championship. He subsequently joined the New Zealand Breakers as a development player for the 2014–15 NBL season and was a member of the Breakers' championship-winning team. After a season with the Manawatu Jets in 2015, Ngatai re-joined the Breakers as a development player for the 2015–16 NBL season. [7]

After a season with the Taranaki Mountainairs in 2016, Ngatai was promoted to the full-time playing roster of the Breakers for the 2016–17 NBL season. [8]

In 2017 and 2019, Ngatai won championships with the Wellington Saints. [9] [10] [11] He was acquired by the Otago Nuggets for the 2020 season, [12] going on to win his fourth NZNBL championship. [13]

On 14 August 2020, Ngatai signed a two-year deal with the Cairns Taipans. [14]

Ngatai returned to the Wellington Saints in 2022 [15] and then joined the Hawke's Bay Hawks in 2023. [16] On 15 July 2023, he scored a career-high 47 points in a 106–81 win over the Manawatu Jets. [17]

On 4 December 2023, Ngatai signed with Pyrintö of the Finnish Korisliiga for the rest of the 2023–24 season. [18]

Ngatai re-joined the Hawke's Bay Hawks for the 2024 New Zealand NBL season. [19] [20]

In August 2024, Ngatai signed with the Kapfenberg Bulls of the Austrian Basketball Superliga. [21]

In May 2025, Ngatai was acquired by the Wellington Saints for the rest of the 2025 New Zealand NBL season. [22] He went on to help the Saints win the championship, marking his fifth overall and fourth with the team. [23] [24] [25]

National team career

Ngatai made his senior international debut for the Tall Blacks in 2013 at the FIBA Oceania Championships. He represented New Zealand at the 2017 FIBA Asia Cup in Lebanon, where the team ended up in fourth position. [4] [26] He was a key member of the national side which claimed the bronze medal at the 2018 Commonwealth Games. [27] He was included in the New Zealand squad for the 2019 FIBA Basketball World Cup. [28]

In July 2023, Ngatai was named in the Tall Blacks squad for the 2023 FIBA World Cup. [29] He re-joined the Tall Blacks for qualifiers in February 2024. [30]

In July 2025, Ngatai was named in the Tall Blacks squad for the 2025 FIBA Asia Cup. [31]

References

  1. ↑ "Jordan Ngatai". olympic.org.nz. Retrieved 1 August 2023.
  2. ↑ "Jordan Ngatai". fiba.com. Archived from the original on 2 March 2019. Retrieved 1 August 2023.
  3. ↑ "Quality hoops on show in Porirua". poriruacity.govt.nz. 15 March 2019. Retrieved 1 August 2023.
  4. 1 2 "Jordan Ngatai | Basketball New ZealandBasketball New Zealand". nz.basketball. Retrieved 17 September 2019.
  5. ↑ "Jordan Ngatai Basketball Player Profile, New Zealand Breakers, BYU-Hawaii, News, NBL stats, Career, Games Logs, Best, Awards - eurobasket". Eurobasket LLC. Retrieved 17 September 2019.
  6. ↑ "Player statistics for Jordan Ngatai". SportsTG.com. Retrieved 17 September 2019.
  7. ↑ "Basketball: Breakers name development players". nzherald.co.nz. 24 August 2015. Retrieved 17 September 2019.
  8. ↑ "Jordan Ngatai earns fulltime Breakers contract". Newshub . 2 August 2016. Archived from the original on 17 September 2019. Retrieved 17 September 2019.
  9. ↑ "SAINTS CREATE HISTORY CLAIMING THEIR TENTH TITLE". Basketball.org.nz. 17 June 2017. Archived from the original on 26 January 2019. Retrieved 17 June 2017.
  10. ↑ Smith, Tony (21 July 2019). "Wellington Saints claim 11th NBL title with stunning comeback win over Hawks". Stuff.co.nz. Retrieved 21 July 2019.
  11. ↑ "Team". Wellington Saints. Retrieved 17 September 2019.
  12. ↑ Egan, Brendon (11 June 2020). "Otago Nuggets select Jordan Ngatai first in NBL Showdown draft". Stuff.co.nz. Retrieved 11 June 2020.
  13. ↑ "NUGGETS STRIKE GOLD IN SAL'S NBL SHOWDOWN". nznbl.basketball. 1 August 2020. Retrieved 1 August 2020.
  14. ↑ "Taipans Sign NZ Wing Jordan Ngatai". NBL.com.au. 14 August 2020. Retrieved 14 August 2020.
  15. ↑ "Jordan Ngatai signs with The Wellington Saints". saints.co.nz. 24 March 2022. Archived from the original on 17 May 2022. Retrieved 24 March 2022.
  16. ↑ Laing, Doug (2 February 2023). "Basketball: A major signing for the Hawke's Bay Hawks". nzherald.co.nz. Retrieved 2 February 2023.
  17. ↑ Egan, Brendon (16 July 2023). "Jordan Ngatai drops career-high 47 points to help Hawks into NBL finals". Stuff.co.nz. Retrieved 16 July 2023.
  18. ↑ "PYRINTÖ SOPIMUKSEEN UUDEN-SEELANNIN MAAJOUKKUEPELAAJAN KANSSA". pyrinto.fi (in Finnish). 4 December 2023. Retrieved 10 January 2024.
  19. ↑ "Basketball: Hawke's Bay Hawks team re-sign star Tall Blacks forward". nzherald.co.nz. 10 January 2024. Retrieved 10 January 2024.
  20. ↑ "Ngatai returns as centrepiece for Hawks". hawks.org.nz. 10 January 2024. Retrieved 13 January 2024.
  21. ↑ "Surrey keeps Hunt for another season". australiabasket.com. 29 August 2024. Archived from the original on 29 August 2024.
  22. ↑ "Blockbuster Sign and Trade Between Airs and Saints!!". nznbl.basketball. 9 May 2025. Retrieved 9 May 2025.
  23. ↑ Egan, Brendon (20 July 2025). "Hyrum Harris shines as Wellington Saints capture NBL title No 13". thepost.co.nz. Retrieved 20 July 2025.
  24. ↑ Francis, Ben (20 July 2025). "Basketball: Wellington Saints beat Southland Sharks to clinch 13th National Basketball League title". NZ Herald. Archived from the original on 20 July 2025. Retrieved 20 July 2025.
  25. ↑ "Basketball: Welington Saints player dedicates NBL victory to late coach". RNZ. 20 July 2025. Retrieved 20 July 2025.
  26. ↑ "Jordan NGATAI at the FIBA Asia Cup 2017". FIBA.basketball. Retrieved 17 September 2019.
  27. ↑ "Basketball | Athlete Profile: Jordan NGATAI - Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games". results.gc2018.com. Retrieved 17 September 2019.[ dead link ]
  28. ↑ Proballers. "Jordan Ngatai, Basketball Player". Proballers. Retrieved 17 September 2019.
  29. ↑ "TALL BLACKS SQUAD OF 14 NAMED FOR WORLD CUP PREP TOUR". nz.basketball. 31 July 2023. Retrieved 1 August 2023.
  30. ↑ "TALL BLACKS NAME SQUAD FOR ASIA CUP QUALIFIERS IN FEBRUARY". nz.basketball. 26 January 2024. Retrieved 26 January 2024.
  31. ↑ "Three debutants named in Flavell's 2025 FIBA Asia Cup squad | Basketball New Zealand". nz.basketball. 16 July 2025. Retrieved 16 July 2025.
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