The 10 teams play each other twice in a home and away format, with the season culminating in a Final Four playoff in July. For the Giants, it means a return to the Trafalgar Centre and playing before their loyal fans after an almost two-year absence. The Giants will take to the court with a typically local flavour to their roster, spearheaded by talismanic veteran Sam Dempster, who returns for his 13th year in blue and white having missed the curtailed Auckland-based 2020 season due to work commitments. The former Nayland College rebound magnet will bring his usual brand of leadership, hard work, and smarts to the court, while former Waimea College star Tom Ingham will look to build on an impressive 2020 where he footed it with some of the top Kiwis in the league.
The 38-year-old - now based in Queensland and entering his post-basketball phase of life – has plied his trade for club sides in Australia, Lebanon, Italy and for Manawatu and Auckland sides domestically. However, Nelson was the place he appeared anchored to, playing 16 seasons for the Giants over four stints between 2000 and 2020. Nelson Giants head coach Mike Fitchett played with or coached Vukona through most of those years, starting as teammates in the Nelson College A basketball team in 2000. It was the same year the team won the national secondary schools title. Fitchett recalled Vukona, then a new arrival at Nelson College from Tauranga, as being big in stature and heart, but “raw” in the skills department.