Two Further Players Added to BNZ Breakers' Roster for NBL25

The youngest brother of former Chicago Bull Cameron Bairstow is joining the BNZ Breakers for NBL25 with a team option for a second year.

23-year-old Sean Bairstow has signed his first professional contract with the BNZ Breakers after playing NCAA Division One basketball in the United States for five years.

The versatile Small Forward brings the experience of playing 142 games for Utah and Virginia and is the first signing of new BNZ Breakers’ Head Coach Petteri Koponen.

He is also the brother of Brisbane Bullets Power Forward Jarred Bairstow, who spent the last three seasons with the Tasmanian JackJumpers and won the NBL Championship earlier this year.

“Sean is a long, athletic wing who can play multiple positions and gives us options in the rotation in what will be a very demanding season,” says Koponen.

“He is not afraid to put the ball on the floor and drive to the rim but is also comfortable on the block and from the perimeter.”

Listed at 6’7” or two metres tall, Koponen sees Bairstow’s size and guard skills as two critical assets to the BNZ Breakers.

He is also particularly impressed with how he recovered from a foot fracture that delayed the start of his final year.  Bairstow ultimately played 29 games for Virginia, averaging 10.3 points, 4.5 rebounds, and 3.6 assists during 11.3 minutes of court time.

Bairstow can create for his teammates, which is also highly attractive to Koponen.

In January, he achieved a career-high of 12 assists to go with his 14 points and two rebounds against the La Salle Explorers, while a month earlier, Bairstow hit 22 points against Gardner-Webb University.

Today, the BNZ Breakers are also confirming Grant Anticevich from BC Gottingen on Koponen’s roster for NBL25.

The Small Forward played 25.4 minutes over 34 games in Germany last season, averaging 7.8 points, 5.1 rebounds and 1.1 assists.

Anticevich is already known to kiwi basketball fans after representing the Southland Sharks in the New Zealand NBL last year.

The 25-year-old also arrives with the added experience of playing NCAA Division One for five years where he made 139 appearances for the California Golden Bears.

However, it will not be Anticevich’s first taste of the NBL having previously played 18 games for the South East Melbourne Phoenix two seasons ago. 

Bairstow and Anticevich are the seventh and eighth players confirmed to the 12-strong Breakers’ squad for NBL25.

They join a roster spearheaded by All-NBL First Team Parker Jackson-Cartwright, 2023 LA Lakers draft pick and Kiwi-born Mojave King, talented Kiwi Sam Mennenga, 2021 NBL Champion Mitch McCarron, former Philadelphia 76er Jonah Bolden and returning big man Dane Pineau.

Two import spots and one local spot are still to be filled, and the BNZ Breakers are also likely to sign another NBL Next Star.

The team assembles on August 12 in Auckland with the BNZ Breakers’ NBL25 season tipping off September 21 against the Bullets at Hoopsfest in Perth. 

The first home game is September 29 against the South East Melbourne Phoenix at Spark Arena.