The recipient of the Male Player of the Year for 2021 is Mika Vukona
One of the greatest to have ever worn the black singlet, after a 16-year stint in the Tall Blacks, Mika Vukona called time on international basketball after a typically selfless display of love and commitment to his country.
In February 2021 Mika was called into the Tall Blacks team, by his good friend and former teammate, Pero Cameron, to help the New Zealand Tall Blacks stay the course as they looked to the 2022 Asia Cup, 2023 World Cup and potentially the 2024 Olympics.
If you remember it was a game that the Tall Blacks had to fulfil against Australia, in Cairns, with an untried team – Mika totalled 150 of the 152 test caps on display for NZ in that game – 18 year old Taine Murray had played two games the year before.
Tall Blacks coach Pero Cameron said of Mika:
After a year and a bit, I call him back in and he put everything on hold for the singlet. It wouldn’t matter if he had one leg – it’s his leadership that I wanted the debutants to get a taste of and what he brings to a game every day. When I asked the question, he just said yes in two seconds. It wasn’t about anything else but leading these ten new guys. It was a hiding to nothing and we knew it and spoke about it. But, like I said, he stepped up to the challenge and I can’t think of a better person to do it. Mika bows out as the fourth all-time test capped Tall Black behind Pero Cameron, Kirk Penney and Phill Jones. He played 150 internationals captaining the team on 61 occasions.
The recipient of the Male Player of the Year for 2021 is Mika Vukona. Could I please invite Huw Beynon, General Manager of the NZNBL, to accept the award on Mika’s behalf.
