Jordan Ngatai (born 7 March 1993) 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 the

Wellington Saints The Wellington Saints are a New Zealand professional men's basketball team based in Wellington. The Saints compete in the National Basketball League (NBL) and play their home games at TSB Bank Arena. For sponsorship reasons, they are known as ...

of the New Zealand National Basketball League (NZNBL). He played six seasons 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 NBL and is a regular New Zealand Tall Black. In the New Zealand NBL, he is a four-time champion.

Early life and career

Ngatai was born in

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

, in the suburb of

Paddington Paddington is an area in the City of Westminster, in central London, England. A medieval parish then a metropolitan borough of the County of London, it was integrated with Westminster and Greater London in 1965. Paddington station, designed b ...

. He was raised in New Zealand, in

Porirua Porirua, () a list of cities in New Zealand, city in the Wellington Region of the North Island of New Zealand, is one of the four cities that constitute the Wellington#Wellington metropolitan area, Wellington metropolitan area. The name 'Poriru ...

and

Ngāti Toa Ngāti Toa, also called Ngāti Toarangatira or Ngāti Toa Rangatira, is a Māori people, Māori ''iwi'' (tribe) based in the southern North Island and the northern South Island of New Zealand. Ngāti Toa remains a small iwi with a population of ...

, where he attended Mana College. In 2012–13, Ngatai 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

Sierra College Sierra College is a public community college in Rocklin, California. It is part of the Sierra Joint Community College District, a district that covers over , serves Placer, Nevada and parts of El Dorado and Sacramento counties. History The coll ...

in the United States. In 2013–14, he played for BYU–Hawaii.

Professional career

Ngatai made his debut in the New Zealand NBL in 2012 with the

. In his second season with Wellington in 2014, he won his first championship. He subsequently joined the

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 The Manawatu Jets are a New Zealand professional men's basketball team based in Palmerston North. The Jets compete in the National Basketball League (NBL) and play their home games at Central Energy Trust Arena. For sponsorship reasons, they ...

in 2015, Ngatai re-joined the Breakers as a development player for the

2015–16 NBL season The 2015–16 NBL season was the 38th season of competition since its establishment in 1979. A total of eight teams contested the league. The regular season was played between 7 October 2015 and 14 February 2016, followed by a post-season featur ...

. 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. In 2017 and 2019, Ngatai won championships with the Wellington Saints. He was acquired by 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 ...

for the 2020 season, going on to win his fourth NZNBL championship. On 14 August 2020, Ngatai signed a two-year deal with the

Cairns Taipans The Cairns Taipans are an Australian professional basketball team based in Cairns, Queensland. The Taipans compete in the National Basketball League (NBL) and play their home games at the Cairns Convention Centre, known colloquially as "The S ...

. Ngatai returned to the Wellington Saints in

2022 The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...

and then joined the

Hawke's Bay Hawks The Hawke's Bay Hawks are a New Zealand professional basketball team based in Napier. The Hawks compete in the National Basketball League (NBL) and play their home games at Pettigrew Green Arena. For sponsorship reasons, they are known as th ...

2023 Catastrophic natural disasters in 2023 included the Lists of 21st-century earthquakes, 5th-deadliest earthquake of the 21st century 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquakes, striking Turkey and Syria, leaving up to 62,000 people dead; Cyclone Freddy ...

. On 15 July 2023, he scored a career-high 47 points in a 106–81 win over the

. On 4 December 2023, Ngatai signed with Pyrintö of the Finnish

Korisliiga The Korisliiga is the top-tier professional basketball league in Finland, comprising the top 12 teams of the country. In its current format, each team plays all other teams two times in the regular season, once at home and once away, for a total o ...

for the rest of the 2023–24 season. Ngatai re-joined the Hawke's Bay Hawks 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 ...

. In August 2024, Ngatai signed with the

Kapfenberg Bulls Kapfenberg Bulls, also known simply as Bulls, is a professional basketball club that is based in Kapfenberg, Styria, Austria. The team plays in the Austrian Basketball Superliga. The Bulls have won seven national championships, four Austrian Cu ...

of the Austrian Basketball Superliga. In May 2025, Ngatai was acquired by the Wellington Saints for the rest of the 2025 New Zealand NBL season.

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 Lebanon, officially the Republic of Lebanon, is a country in the Levant region of West Asia. Situated at the crossroads of the Mediterranean Basin and the Arabian Peninsula, it is bordered by Syria to the north and east, Israel to the south ...

, where the team ended up in fourth position. He was a key member of the national side which claimed the bronze medal at the

2018 Commonwealth Games The 2018 Commonwealth Games, officially known as the XXI Commonwealth Games and also known as Gold Coast 2018, were an international multi-sport event for members of the Commonwealth that was held on the Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia, bet ...

. He was included in the New Zealand squad for the

2019 FIBA Basketball World Cup The 2019 FIBA Basketball World Cup was the 18th tournament of the FIBA Basketball World Cup for men's national basketball teams, held from 31 August to 15 September 2019. The tournament was hosted in China and was rescheduled from 2018 to 2019, b ...

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

References

External links

Jordan Ngatai
at nbl.com.au

at archive.fiba.com
BYU–Hawaii Seasiders bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ngatai, Jordan 1993 births Living people 2019 FIBA Basketball World Cup players Basketball players at the 2018 Commonwealth Games BYU–Hawaii Seasiders men's basketball players Cairns Taipans players Commonwealth Games bronze medallists for New Zealand Commonwealth Games bronze medallists in basketball Junior college men's basketball players in the United States Hawke's Bay Hawks players Manawatu Jets players New Zealand Breakers players New Zealand expatriate basketball people in the United States New Zealand men's basketball players Otago Nuggets players Sportspeople from Porirua Sierra College alumni Small forwards Taranaki Mountainairs players Wellington Saints players Medallists at the 2018 Commonwealth Games 2023 FIBA Basketball World Cup players New Zealand expatriate basketball people in Finland Tampereen Pyrintö players 21st-century New Zealand sportsmen