It is something he never thought about, but for the first time in his 84-game international career, Jordan Ngatai will lead the New Zealand Tall Blacks into battle after being named captain of the side for the 2025 FIBA Asia Cup.
Colloquially dubbed, ‘The Prince of Porirua’, Ngatai made his debut in the black singlet almost 12 years ago to the day, July 27th against China, aged 20.
Now with 84 games in the black singlet underneath his belt, it’s no secret that Ngatai’s mana within the Tall Blacks camp is held in incredibly high regard.
“I think Jordan is really somebody that when you talk about a Tall Black player, when you talk about Tall Black values, how a Tall Black conducts himself on the day-to-day, this guy is everything that a Tall Black should be.”
For Coach Judd Flavell, it was an easy decision to hand Ngatai the captaincy.
“He’s just a great professional and somebody that has the ability to connect with people from all backgrounds and ages. Jordan’s got the persona about him where he has the mana but is also very approachable. So yeah, really excited for Jordan and it’s something I know he’ll take pride in fulfilling.”
A humble character by nature, the Tall Black veteran has just finished a Sal’s NBL season that saw him be a huge part in leading his hometown Wellington Saints to yet another grand final, in search for his fifth New Zealand League championship.
But the honour of being named Tall Black captain was never one he really thought about.
“It’s a huge honour for not only myself, but for my family. Honestly, I don’t think I would have imagined myself being the captain of my national team – let alone one of the veterans to last this long in a Tall Black singlet as well. So, I think that in itself is an honour and I’m grateful for it.”
Ngatai follows in the footsteps of some great leaders and fellow teammates who’ve carried the distinguished honour in the past.
“There have been a lot of great leaders that have come through the Tall Blacks, and I’ve been fortunate enough to learn from them. You always have Mika who always comes to mind, being coached by Pauli and Pero – the most recent captain Reuben Te Rangi, so I’ve always had great leaders around me to kind of show me what needs to be done.”
A lot of what those aforementioned legends of Tall Black basketball have done is build and nurture the culture that is seemingly interwoven in every single thread of each black singlet that is stitched together and donned by players.
Something that the new skipper is keen to continue to tap into.
“I feel like when most people talk about New Zealand sport teams, or just New Zealand in general, it’s always coming down to culture.
I think for the Tall Blacks especially, we base ourselves off the culture. It helps us compete and also beat teams with how close and connected we are with not only the team that we’re with, but also the past, the present and the future . It’s a big part of who we are as Tall Blacks.”
The Mana College alum will lead a strong 12-man squad into the FIBA Asia Cup, as will also take the captaincy armband during the Tall Blacks pre-tournament games in the FIBA Solidarity Cup and Four Nations Tournament, both of which will be held in China before the team touches down in Jeddah.
Whilst winning is always at the forefront of everybody’s mind, success in his eyes goes a little further beyond the numbers in a box score.
“Honestly I think success can be shown in multiple ways. Obviously we want to win and do the best we can at Asia Cup. That’s one part of the success.
But also I think it’s just helping the younger generations come through as well. I know when I ws coming through, I had a lot of older veteran guys around me to show me what and what not to do. And for me, I just want to lead more by actions and giving the confidence to the younger guys or the debutants on the team to not hesitate to speak up and ask questions and understand that this is a learning journey for all of us.
So yeah, I think for me, it’s just making myself available for anyone that wants and needs help, but also trying to put wins on the table as well.”
Jordan’s first opportunity to do that comes during the FIBA Solidarity Cup, where the team will take on Brazil on the 26th of July.
New Zealand Tall Blacks Squad – FIBA Asia Cup 2025
C – Jack Andrew* (Taranaki Airs), debutant
G – Taylor Britt (Canterbury Rams & New Zealand Breakers), 34 games
G – Flynn Cameron (Franklin Bulls & Adelaide 36ers), 28 games
F – Max Darling (Canterbury Rams & New Zealand Breakers), 9 games
F – Carlin Davison (Taranaki Airs & New Zealand Breakers), 4 games
F – Ben Gold (Marquette University), 7 games (ONLY FOR FIBA ASIA CUP)
G – Mojave King* (Tauranga Whai), debutant
G/F – Taine Murray (Brisbane Bullets), 10 games
G/F – Jordan Ngatai (Wellington Saints), 84 games
G – Dontae Russo-Nance* (Manawatū Jets), debutant
F/C – Tohi Smith-Milner (Canterbury Rams & Brisbane Bullets), 69 games
New Zealand Tall Blacks Squad additions – FIBA Solidarity Cup & Four Nations
F – Jordan Hunt (Franklin Bulls & Surrey 89ers), 12 games
G – Hayden Jones (Nelson Giants & University of Wisconsin), 1 game
C – Luca Yates* (Hawke’s Bay Hawks & Illawarra Hawks), debutant
FIBA Solidarity Cup (Guangdong, China)
26th July Tall Blacks v Brazil
27th July Tall Blacks v Guangdong
28th July Tall Blacks v Montenegro
Four Nations Tournament (Shenzhen, China)
30th July Tall Blacks v Brazil
31st July Tall Blacks v TBC
FIBA Asia Cup 2025 (Jeddah, Saudi Arabia)
5th August Tall Blacks v Iraq
8th August Tall Blacks v Philippines
10th August Tall Blacks v Chinese Taipei
