Basketball: Breakers in running for All-Star season finale

The Australian National Basketball League is reintroducing an All-Star game after a six-year break to showcase its stars.

The New Zealand Breakers players will be eligible for the Eastern team in the end-of-season match on April 8 in Melbourne.

League commissioner Rick Burton said revival of the All-Star game was due to the overwhelming response to the league's official website poll asking fans whether they would like to see an All-Star game reintroduced.

"We received a record number of responses to this poll and 97 per cent of fans said that they wanted an All-Star game," Burton said.

The Eastern All-Stars will feature players drawn from the Breakers, Cairns, Townsville, Brisbane, Sydney and Wollongong and the Western All-Stars will be made up of players from Perth, Adelaide, Melbourne, Victoria, Hunter and West Sydney.

Sydney Kings coach Brian Goorjian will coach the Eastern team, with West Sydney's Gordon McLeod as his assistant. Brendan Joyce of Wollongong will lead the Western All-Stars and Joey Wright of Brisbane will assist.

The teams will be chosen after the March 24 grand final.

- NZPA