The Tauranga Whai are 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 ...

team based in

Tauranga Tauranga (, Māori language for "resting place," or "safe anchorage") is a coastal city in the Bay of Plenty Region and the List of cities in New Zealand, fifth-most populous city of New Zealand, with an urban population of or roughly 3% of t ...

Bay of Plenty The Bay of Plenty () is a large bight (geography), bight along the northern coast of New Zealand's North Island. It stretches from the Coromandel Peninsula in the west to Cape Runaway in the east. Called ''Te Moana-a-Toitehuatahi'' (the Ocean ...

. The Whai compete in the National Basketball League (NBL) and play their home games at Mercury Baypark.

Team history

In December 2021, the Bay of Plenty Basketball Foundation were granted a license to enter a men's team into the National Basketball League (NBL) for the 2024 season. The team was initially named the Bay of Plenty Stingrays. The team was rebranded as Whai in the lead up to their first season and then later officially branded Tauranga Whai. The word ''whai'' as a noun means ''stingray'' in

Māori Māori or Maori can refer to: Relating to the Māori people * Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group * Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand * Māori culture * Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the Co ...

. As a verb, ''whai'' means to chase or pursue. In October 2023, Whai Basketball announced Matt Lacey as their inaugural men's coach. In their NBL debut on 28 March 2024, the Whai defeated 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 ...

91–70 at Mercury Baypark. The Whai finished their first season in eighth place with an 8–12 record.

Season by season record

''Note: GP = Games played, W = Wins, L = Losses, W–L% = Winning percentage'' (*) Denotes season still in progress

Current roster

Women's team

Whai Basketball debuted in 2022 with a women's team, Mid-North Whai, in the inaugural season of the

Tauihi Basketball Aotearoa The Tauihi Basketball Aotearoa is a women's professional basketball league in New Zealand. History In December 2021, a new women's national basketball league was established for 2022 with five new franchises. The league's name ''Tauihi Basket ...

. In 2024, the team became known as Tauranga Whai alongside their male counterpart. As of 2024, the team plays their home games at Queen Elizabeth Youth Centre. The Whai won the 2024 Tauihi Basketball Aotearoa championship with a 90–71 grand final victory over the Tokomanawa Queens.

Women's roster

References

External links

Whai Basketball's official website
{{National Basketball League (New Zealand) National Basketball League (New Zealand) teams Basketball teams in New Zealand Sport in the Bay of Plenty Region Basketball teams established in 2021 2021 establishments in New Zealand