Whangarei's Pero Cameron has been inducted into the Fiba Hall of Fame at a ceremony in Geneva. Photo / Getty Images
Whangarei's Pero Cameron has been inducted into the Fiba Hall of Fame at a ceremony in Geneva. Photo / Getty Images
A haka rang out in Switzerland as former Tall Blacks great Pero Cameron completed a first for New Zealand basketball.
Cameron was inducted into the International Basketball Federation (Fiba) Hall of Fame at a ceremony in Geneva, joining a handful of other internationally recognised players.
The 43-year-old is the firstplayer to be honoured in such a way, having learned of it at an announcement in August.
Cameron was joined by Israel's Mickey Berkowitz, Croatia's Toni Kukoc, Bosnia and Herzegovina's Razija Mujanovic, Latvia's Valdis Valters and Serbian coach Dusan Ivkovic.
David Robinson appeared on behalf of the 1992 American Dream Team, while fellow- American centre Shaquille O'Neal was also inducted but was not at the ceremony.
Cameron's induction was different to the rest, greeted on stage by a haka involving members of his family in the audience.
Cameron is a nine-time domestic NBL winner as a player, also gaining success there as a coach.
He attended two Olympics and the most famous of his three world championship campaigns came at Indianapolis in 2002, when he inspired the fourth-placed Tall Blacks.
His 19-year playing career is regarded as among the greatest of any Kiwi and is regarded as a big contributor to the growth of the game in New Zealand. - NZN
