Jordan Ngatai


Jordan Ngatai is a New Zealand professional basketball player for the Otago Nuggets of the New Zealand National Basketball League. He is also a regular New Zealand Tall Black and has played six seasons with the New Zealand Breakers in the Australian NBL. He has won three championships with the Wellington Saints in the NZNBL.

Early life and career

Born and raised in Porirua, New Zealand, Ngatai graduated from Mana College before attending Sierra College in the United States for one year. For the 2013–14 season, he played basketball for BYU–Hawaii.

Professional career

Ngatai made his debut in the New Zealand NBL in 2012 with the Wellington Saints. In his second season with Wellington in 2014, he won his first championship. He subsequently joined the New Zealand Breakers as a development player for the 2014–15 NBL season and was a member of the Breakers' championship-winning team. After a season with the Manawatu Jets in 2015, Ngatai re-joined the Breakers as a development player for the 2015–16 NBL season.
After a season with the Taranaki Mountainairs in 2016, Ngatai was promoted to the full-time playing roster of the Breakers for the 2016–17 NBL season.
In 2017 and 2019, Ngatai won championships with the Wellington Saints. He was acquired by the Otago Nuggets for the 2020 season, going on to win his fourth NZNBL championship.

National team career

Ngatai made his senior international debut for the Tall Blacks in 2013 at the FIBA Oceania Championships. He represented New Zealand at the 2017 FIBA Asia Cup in Lebanon, where the team ended up in fourth position. He was a key member of the national side which claimed the bronze medal at the 2018 Commonwealth Games. He was included in the New Zealand squad for the 2019 FIBA Basketball World Cup.