Head Coach – Gordon Herbert

Appointed ahead of the 2026-27 ANBL season Gordon Herbert becomes the ninth, and most credentialed, Head Coach to take charge of the BNZ Breakers.

Herbert will lead the club following a historic stint with the German National Team that  culminated in gold medal success at 2023 FIBA World Cup and a top-four finish at the 2024 Olympics in Paris. He has the distinction of being an Olympian player and coach having been a member of the Canadian team that placed fourth at the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles.

Having finished his playing career in Finland Herbert remained in the country to begin his coaching career. His vast amount of club coaching in Europe has also seen him take assignments in France, Greece, Austria and most recently with Bayern Munich in the German Bundesliga.

The Canadian/Finnish national also served as an assistant coach with the Toronto Raptors in the NBA in 2008-09.

Herbert assumed the position of head coach of the Canadian National team in 2025 and will combine that role with his duties at the BNZ Breakers.

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Lead Assistant Coach – Sebastian Gleim

Sebastian Gleim reunites with BNZ Breakers Head Coach Gordon Herbert who he worked alongside during Germany’s outstanding run to the2023 FIBA World Cup gold medal. The German national also worked with Herbert in Frankfurt and was Head Coach in the German BBL, in Frankfurt and Crailshelm.

Gleim is familiar with the New Zealand basketball landscape having served as the Head Coach of Franklin Bulls for the 2024 and 2025 NZNBL seasons. After successfully completing his two-year coaching assignment in New Zealand, Gleim returned to Europe to become the Managing Director of Basketball Operations for his former club, the Frankfurt Skyliners,in the German Bundesliga.

Gleim’s experience in the German National Programme is extensive having coached German age-group teams for over a decade from 2011.

Matt Lacey – Assistant Coach

Matt Lacey returns for a second season with the Breakers having been appointed ahead of the 2025-26 NBL season.

He has spent the last three NZNBL seasons as Head Coach of expansion club Tauranga Whai taking the team to the play-offs in the two most recent seasons.

Lacey was head coach of the Junior Tall Blacks team that delivered a fourth place finish at the 2025 FIBA U19 World Cup in Switzerland. It marked the first occasion New Zealand had recorded a top eight finish at an U19 World Cup.

It also matched the accomplishments of the 2002 Tall Blacks and the 2024 U17 Men’s team that also placed fourth at FIBA World Cup Tournaments.

Lacey is a three-time recipient of the Basketball New Zealand Male Coach of the Year Award receiving recognition in 2018, 2019, and 2025.

Quinn Clinton – Assistant Coach

2026 NZNBL Coach of the Year Quinn Clinton joins the Breakers coaching group ahead of the 2026-27 season, the former Junior Tall Black having been a Development Player with the club in the 2018-19 season.

An outstanding age-group player he won the 2017 BBNZ Junior Player of the Year Award after leading the team at the FIBA U19 World Championships in Cairo.

Clinton then enjoyed a four-year NCAA Division I collegiate career at St Mary’s College, California before returning to Christchurch, his hometown, to play for the NZNBL Championship winning Canterbury Rams in 2023.

Following that success Clinton moved to the coaching ranks at the Rams initially as an assistant coach and then in 2025 as Head Coach, a position he has continued with in 2026 when leading the Rams to the Final Four on successive occasions.

In addition Clinton was head coach of the Christ College team that won the 2024Secondary Schools National Championship.

Josiah Maama – Assistant Coach

Assistant Coach Josiah Maama completes the BNZ Breakers coaching quintet ahead of the2026-27 NBL season.

Maama’s appointment brings a potent blend of NBA Summer League exposure, historic international success, a lifelong passion for the Breakers, and deep Auckland roots.

A proud Glen Innes resident of Tongan heritage, Maama was part of the coaching team with the Junior Tall Blacks that orchestrated a historic fourth-place finish at the 2025 FIBA U19 World Cup in Switzerland. Working with fellow assistant BNZ Breakers coach Matt Lacey, this was the highest World Cup placement ever achieved by a New Zealand basketball team at any age-group FIBA Tournament.

Also in the international arena he led the New Zealand team to the gold medal at the 2025 FIBA U17 Oceania Cup in Fiji, the Kiwis beating Australia 82-62 in the Final.

Maama was appointed Head Coach at Dilworth School and in 2025 he led Dilworth to its first Auckland Secondary Schools Premiership title and completed a three-year stint as Assistant Coach with Auckland Tuatara in the NZNBL. 

Maama joins the BNZ Breakers fresh off an assistant coaching stint with the San Antonio Spurs at the 2026 NBA Summer League in Las Vegas.

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