'It's going to be very difficult': Breakers boss Matt Walsh on realities of 2021 season

Breakers Basketball club owner Matt Walsh. Photo / Photosport

Matt Walsh is all too willing to welcome people into his new home.

On Thursday, the Breakers owner held a farewell event at his house on Auckland's North Shore, ahead of his side's departure to Melbourne today to prepare the start of the Australian basketball league next month.

Since taking over in 2018, Walsh and his fellow owners have at times been criticised for losing the family values, long associated with predecessors the Blackwell family.
There was no question about that this week.

The players and staff's children were running around, laughter was plentiful, food and beverages were being encouraged. Even to media.

"Make sure you grab a beer and something to eat" he encourages.

Walsh is keen to point out the trampoline which children are jumping on, where on the deck he normally has an area set up to hit golf balls, and shares the stories of how he and his son (if he's awake) will walk down to the local beach in the mornings, have a swim, and then come home, ready to get the family ready for the day.

Matt Walsh, Craig Stanaway and Mark Richardson during the New Zealand Breakers vs Adelaide. Photo / Photosport

He knows how important family is going to be over the next few months.

"Going to Melbourne's going to be very difficult, especially from a mental standpoint," Walsh acknowledges. "They're going away for possibly six and a half months. Hopefully we get a chance to come back but even then, that's probably three and a half months.

"So we've sorted them all their own apartments, with fully-stocked kitchens, everything you can imagine. The guys with families, they've got two or three bedroom places. They're showing up to fully-furnished, totally set up places, food waiting for them. We've done everything we can."

Walsh reminds that some players have gone to Europe or Asia for months at a time, so the idea of the likes of swingman Tom Abercrombie or guard Corey Webster leaving their families behind, isn't unfamiliar.

"But if they're struggling, we're going to help them, whatever we need to do. If they say 'hey I can't do this anymore' then we'll try and find a solution. But we'll never guilt or force them to stay, that's not just how we run our business."

Whilst helping to facilitate the team in Australia, Walsh has also been busy thinking and planning how to make the ANBL more world-renowned.

It may be seen as him getting a job for an old mate, but Walsh has come up with an idea which could see more NBA players joining the league.

"We have our two import spots. But we have the Next Stars programme, well I've been pushing for the Vets Stars programme which if you have a certain amount of NBA games, ANBL teams can sign you outside of the salary cap.

"We want to grow in North America and China, but how do you do that? You get guys like Joakim Noah, Joe Johnson, to come and play in the league and prepare for the NBA playoffs. The owners are considering it."

It's a similar model that was used with 2015 NBA champion Andrew Bogut, though not formally. The Australian centre returned home in 2019, won the ANBL MVP and then was picked back up by the Golden State Warriors in the NBA.

Noah, a former US college teammate of Walsh with Florida, hasn't got a deal in the NBA for the upcoming season, with it suggested he'll likely retire.

Walsh is keen to see the former Defensive Player of the Year stick around a bit longer and suit-up for the Breakers, something he tried to convince the 35-year-old to do last year before he signed with the LA Clippers.

The Breakers are preparing to jet to Australia for the 2021 season. Photo / Photosport

"Jo isn't ready to stop playing yet. He's a close friend of mine and I think he's been such a good NBA player for so long that it's hard to think about playing anywhere else. But I think if he is going to play somewhere other than the NBA, it'll be here.

"He's amazing, and I think about, if we had home games, what he would be like as a drawcard. Our fans would love him. And he loves Hawaii and he loves surfing so this would be a really natural fit for him."

Walsh has also caught up with RJ Hampton, who last season was part of the aforementioned Next Stars programme. Originally predicted to be a top 10 pick in the NBA draft, the guard didn't end up getting picked up until the 24th pick, going to Denver via a couple of trades.

"He was disappointed on draft night but I think he realised very quickly he's in a great position. He's with a team which had him top-five in terms of talent, a veteran team with some amazing players, he doesn't have to go in and be the star and he's just looking forward to getting going.

"But I don't think everyone knows why RJ was so disappointed and why he was crying on draft night. At pick 15, the Houston Rockets were going to take him – they traded away their pick. At 19 the Brooklyn Nets were going to take him – they traded away their pick. So in his mind he's thinking that's as far as I'm going to slide. But at 24, you get a top-five talent, he's probably the most athletic player, I'm shocked, that's a once in a 10 year pick."

Walsh concedes he's yet to buy a Hampton Nuggets jersey, but jokes the Breakers organisation may end up being the reason they all sell out.

"We're going to have the largest shipment of RJ jerseys. Our whole staff will have them, we're going to be the biggest supporters of RJ, and they've got the best branding with the mountains and rainbow colours."

Singlets for Christmas, that's one way to keep your family happy.