16 Oct 2024

Basketball: Former NBA player Tacko Fall to come to NZ, play with Breakers

12:46 pm on 16 October 2024
Tacko Fall leaves the court after suffering an injury playing for Chinese Basketball Association club the Xinjiang Flying Tigers.

Tacko Fall leaves the court after suffering an injury playing for Chinese Basketball Association club the Xinjiang Flying Tigers. Photo: AFP

The Breakers are giving former NBA player Tacko Fall a second chance.

The towering centre, who stands at 2.29m tall, was signed for the club's NBA exhibition games against the Utah Jazz, Philadelphia 76ers and Oklahoma City Thunder, but had a quad injury and did not take the court.

Fall will now travel to Auckland to train with the team.

"I was disappointed not to be able to play during the NBA games, but I'm feeling good now and am ready to contribute at training," Fall said.

"I loved spending time with the team last week. The group has a really nice feel and I'm looking forward to working with them again and making an impact."

Senegal-born Fall is one of the tallest players to ever grace a basketball court, and said last month his original short-term contract with the Breakers was an opportunity to get back in front of NBA scouts after two seasons playing in the relative obscurity of the Chinese Basketball Association.

The 28-year-old free agent had played for the Boston Celtics (2019-'21) and the Cleveland Cavaliers ('21-'22), but had limited court time, only recording 37 NBA games.

He believed he was only now hitting his physical prime.

The Breakers did not have any available import spots, so Fall would not play in the Breakers' next home game on Saturday.

After a stint in the US, where the Breakers all three games against NBA sides, the team returns to the NBL on Thursday to play the Brisbane Bullets in Brisbane in the first game of a double-header.

The Breakers are leading the NBL table with two wins from two games.

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