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Sport Nation
📻 IMPORTANT AUCKLAND UPDATE 📻
'It doesn’t get any better': Breakers great's iconic No. 10 set for the rafters
Kieran Bingham • January 14th, 2026 12:21 pm
Tom Abercrombie celebrates a clutch three pointer | Photo: Photosport
On Friday, January 30, the Breakers will retire the No. 10 jersey of Tom Abercrombie, a great servant of New Zealand basketball and a true legend in the Breakers jersey.
Abercrombie famously wore the number throughout his 429-game career and will now join Breakers greats Paul Henare (32), CJ Bruton (23) and Boucher (24) as the only players recognised as club legends in the rafters of Auckland’s Spark Arena.
“It doesn't get any better as a as an athlete and as a basketballer, to see a jersey raised up there with some of the other legends," Abercrombie told Sport Nation.
"It's going to be a special night, very honoured to receive that nod from the club and proud of the career that I had.”
Now retired, Tom also opened up on life after basketball and the challenge of stepping away from the game.
“The transition's tough no matter what situation you're in and I was very lucky I was able to call time on my career on my own terms. I wasn't forced into it by any injuries.”
“It certainly took a bit of time and it's been difficult over the last couple of years adjusting to life without basketball in my life all the time. But do I miss it? In short, no, I don't, I'm very happy just sitting back in the couch and having a beer and watching the boys now.”
A Westlake Boys’ High School alumni, Abercrombie was not always exclusive to basketball, describing himself as your quintessential sports-mad youngster.
“I was a pretty typical Kiwi kid and I played everything I possibly could. I played rugby and soccer and cricket.”
“I just started to get taller and taller and leaned myself more and more towards basketball.”
It was not just his height that drew him to the sport. The Tall Blacks’ historic fourth-place finish at the 2002 World Cup played a major role.
“I got caught up in that first wave of excitement for the sport in New Zealand, you know, the World Cup in 2002 with the Tall Blacks finished fourth was a real catalyst.”
Shortly after that tournament, the Breakers arrived in March 2003, further fuelling Abercrombie’s ambitions.
“I was there for the very first game, watching that, and I guess these little things planted the seed in me and got pretty excited about the prospect of being a professional basketballer one day.”
In today’s era of highlight reels and mixtapes, college recruitment has become far more accessible. For Abercrombie, however, a personal connection helped open doors, with former Breakers teammate and Tall Blacks icon Kirk Penney playing a key role in his move to Washington State University.
Breakers Kirk Penney (R) and Tom Abercrombie (L).
“I was lucky that I had a connection through Kirk Penney.”
“His old college coach, Tony Bennett had just taken over the coaching job at Washington State. Kirk came back one off season and worked out with me and had a chat to Tony and that's how that seed was planted.”
After his time in the United States, Abercrombie returned home and signed a development contract with the Breakers, the club he had supported from the very beginning. While he earned solid minutes, the transition back to New Zealand was not seamless.
“I came back from Washington State in a bit of a bit of a funk," he explained.
"I spent two years over there and hadn't really got to play. I'd sat on the bench, it had been a bit of a culture shock. Klay Thompson came in and got recruited over the top of me and took my spot in that last year, which I'm comfortable with now, but obviously wasn't very happy at the time that a young freshman was coming in and taking my minutes.”
That young freshman would go on to win four NBA championships and become one of the greatest shooters the league has ever seen.
Through years of hard work and dedication from a New Zealand-based side chasing history, Abercrombie and the Breakers finally reached the summit in 2011, before repeating the feat in 2012, 2013 and 2015.
Tom Abercrombie following the 2012 win against the Perth Wildcats | Photo: Photosport
“There were moments in all of them, which I'll always remember. Obviously the first one was the first one and the parade down Queen Street sticks out for me because that was just unheard of for a basketball team at the time. And we were petrified that no one was going to turn up and we were going to roll down Queen Street and wave to nobody. But we did a really good turnout and that was incredible.”
A genuine icon of New Zealand basketball, Abercrombie leaves young hoopers with one final piece of advice.
“You've got to love what you do, you've got to really enjoy the grind because there's a lot of work to get to the top level and if you enjoy what you're doing, it makes all of that so much easier."
"The sacrifices and commitment that I know I made in hindsight now, didn't feel like sacrifices at the time because I genuinely enjoyed the training, I enjoyed what I was doing, I enjoyed getting up at five in the morning and going to school before school started and working out and getting up shots.”
"So, just being a strong, encouraging family around your kid, if that's what they're into, I think that's the best thing you can do."
Listen to the full interview:
