Winners
| Denotes players that also led the league in scoring that season. |
| National Basketball League awards and honors |
|---|
| Championship |
| Individual awards |
| Honours |
The National Basketball League Assist Champion is an annual National Basketball League (NBL) award given since the 1984 New Zealand NBL season to the player with the highest assists per game average of the regular season. [1] The winner receives the Dave Taylor Trophy. [2]
| Denotes players that also led the league in scoring that season. |
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 Night 'n Day Otago Nuggets.
The Taranaki Airs are a New Zealand basketball team based in New Plymouth. The Airs compete in the National Basketball League (NBL) and play their home games at TSB Stadium. For sponsorship reasons, they are known as the Steelformers Airs.
Leonard King is an American former basketball player. He played college basketball for the Florida A&M Rattlers before playing the majority of his career in New Zealand with the Otago Nuggets. Listed as a forward in college, he was named the recipient of the New Zealand NBL Most Outstanding Guard Award in 1994.
The Harbour Heat were a New Zealand basketball team based in Auckland. The Heat competed in the National Basketball League (NBL) and played their home games at North Shore Events Centre.
Dion Anthony Prewster is an American-born New Zealand basketball player for the Wellington Saints of the New Zealand National Basketball League (NZNBL). He played college basketball for San Jacinto College and Stephen F. Austin State University. He served as an assistant coach of the Shimane Susanoo Magic in the Japanese B.League during the 2023–24 season.
Marcel Xavier Jones is an American-New Zealand professional basketball player. He played college basketball for the Oregon State Beavers between 2004 and 2008 before embarking on a professional career that spanned across the globe, from Europe and the Middle East, to his adoptive home of New Zealand. Since 2009, Jones has had consistent yearly stints in the New Zealand NBL, largely due to gaining New Zealand citizenship in 2012. He also played consistently in the Persian Gulf region between 2017 and 2022.
Samuel Timmins is a New Zealand professional basketball player for the Franklin Bulls of the New Zealand National Basketball League (NZNBL). He is also contracted with the Tryhoop Okayama of the Japanese B.League. He played college basketball for the Washington Huskies. In 2022, he helped the Otago Nuggets win the NZNBL championship.
The National Basketball League Kiwi MVP was an annual National Basketball League (NBL) award given to the best performing New Zealand player(s) of the regular season. With no MVP award given for the league's first two seasons, in 1984, the league named its first MVP in New Zealander John "Dutchie" Rademakers. The award then went on a six-year hiatus before being brought back in 1991. However, the league did not recognise imports, with only New Zealanders being able to win MVP honours. That was until 2003 when a league-wide MVP award was introduced alongside the Kiwi MVP to allow imports the opportunity to win. In 2019, the Kiwi MVP was not awarded for the first time since 1990.
Derone Jordan Raukawa is a New Zealand basketball player for the Taranaki Airs of the New Zealand National Basketball League (NZNBL).
The National Basketball League Scoring Champion is an annual National Basketball League (NBL) award given since the league's inaugural season to the player with the highest points per game average of the regular season. The winner receives the Alan Bland Memorial Trophy, which is named in honour of Bland, a Wellington native who played for the New Zealand men's national basketball team during the 1960s.
The National Basketball League Rebounding Champion is an annual National Basketball League (NBL) award given since the league's inaugural season to the player with the highest rebounds per game average of the regular season. The winner receives the Garry Pettis Memorial Trophy, which is named in honour of Pettis, a former New Zealand player and coach who is most notable for guiding the Canterbury Rams to the 1986 championship as head coach.
The National Basketball League Youth Player of the Year is an annual National Basketball League (NBL) award given in various iterations since the 1986 New Zealand NBL season to the best performing young New Zealander of the regular season. The award was originally known as Young Player of the Year from 1986 until 1991. Between 1992 and 2004, the award was called Rookie of the Year. A slight adjustment to the rules saw the Young Player of the Year return in 2005. The award changed back to Rookie of the Year in 2006 and remained every year until it was not awarded in 2017. Rookie of the Year returned in 2018 but was then replaced by Youth Player of the Year in 2019 and has remained since.
The National Basketball League Coach of the Year is an annual National Basketball League (NBL) award given since the 1989 New Zealand NBL season to the best head coach of the regular season.
The National Basketball League All-Star Five is an annual National Basketball League (NBL) honour bestowed on the five best players in the league following every NBL season. The five-player team has been selected in every season of the league's existence, dating back to its inaugural season in 1982.
The National Basketball League's Best Team Free Throws honour is awarded annually to the National Basketball League (NBL) team with the best free throw percentage during the regular season. It was first awarded in the league's inaugural season in 1982. The award went on a three-year hiatus between 2019 and 2021, before being brought back in 2022 and remaining in 2023. The winning team receives the Nial Forsyth Trophy.
Lincoln "Link" Abrams is an American-New Zealand former basketball player. He played college basketball in the United States for New Mexico Military Institute and Centenary College. He debuted in the New Zealand National Basketball League (NBL) in 2003 and played his final NBL season in 2013, playing his entire career with the Taranaki Mountainairs.
Ethan Rusbatch is a New Zealand basketball player for the Franklin Bulls of the New Zealand National Basketball League (NZNBL). He began his New Zealand NBL career in 2012 with the Southland Sharks after spending one season in the United States playing college basketball for Lincoln Trail College. After playing for the Taranaki Mountainairs in 2013, he spent the next four seasons with the Canterbury Rams. He joined the Hawke's Bay Hawks in 2018 and won the NZNBL's Most Improved Player in 2019. He also played two seasons with the New Zealand Breakers in the Australian NBL.
Shea Ili is a New Zealand professional basketball player for Melbourne United of the Australian National Basketball League (NBL). He is also contracted with the Sandringham Sabres of the NBL1 South. He debuted in the Australian NBL in 2014 with the New Zealand Breakers. He was a member of the Breakers' championship-winning team in 2015 and in 2018 he named the NBL Most Improved Player. He joined United in 2019 and in 2021 he won his second NBL championship. He was named NBL Best Sixth Man in 2022 and NBL Best Defensive Player in 2024.
The 2020 NBL season was the 39th season of the National Basketball League.
Jordan Hunt is a New Zealand professional basketball player for the Franklin Bulls of the New Zealand New National Basketball League (NZNBL). He debuted in the New Zealand NBL in 2015 with the Wellington Saints and won a championship with them in 2016. After four years of college basketball in the United States with the Southern Oregon Raiders, he helped the Otago Nuggets win the NZNBL championship in 2020 while earning grand final MVP. He subsequently spent the 2020–21 NBL season in Australia with the Cairns Taipans as a development player.
