Tom Abercrombie will suit up for the Breakers again this season. Photo: Andrew Cornaga / www.photosport.nz
Record-breaking New Zealand Breakers captain Tom Abercrombie has signed on for a 16th season with the Australian NBL club.
The 35-year-old four-time NBL champion will make his 400th appearance for the Auckland-based club in their opening game of the season against the Cairns Taipans at Spark Arena on 30 September.
Abercrombie is the only Breaker to have played in all six of the club's championship series appearances over the last 13 years, including being named Grand Final MVP in 2011.
Coach Mody Maor is a big fan of Abercrombie.
"He embodies the modern basketballer and is exactly the player everyone wants to sign. Six foot six or seven, a long, versatile defender, a good shooter, who can do a little bit of a lot," Maor says.
"Tom deciding to play another season is a huge relief.
"I did not want to face next season without having Tom in my corner. Having him in the locker room and on the floor assures a continuation of how we do things."
Abercrombie, who is not one for statistics, holds several other records for the Breakers since scoring four points on his debut against the Wollongong Hawks on 18 September 2008.
He also holds the club records for most wins (226), playoff games (37), points (4319), three-pointers (351) and is just five shy of breaking Dillion Boucher's club record 288 steals.
His ability to create turnovers was perhaps best illustrated with his game-clinching steal against the Brisbane Bullets in February to secure the Breakers' historic playoff berth last season.
In 2020, he became the first New Zealander and just the second NBL player in history to join the exclusive 50-40-90 club, where a player is required to shoot at least 50 per cent from the field, 40 per cent from three-point range and 90 per cent from the free-throw line throughout an entire regular season.
Despite beginning his career as an offensive weapon, Abercrombie's defensive prowess has earned more plaudits in recent seasons.
He finished runner-up as the NBL's best defensive player two years ago, even though he missed the final nine games through injury and grabbed 19 defensive rebounds and 13 steals in the playoffs last season.
Maor has made no secret of how much he values players with a proven ability to defend.
"Tom is the type of player who me as a coach and us as a team trust to be on the court in the most important moments next season.
"We were very clear as an organisation at the end of last season that we wanted to keep our local core."
