Basketball: Financial woes grow for Jeff Green

By AINSLEY THOMSON


The news keeps getting worse for basketball coach Jeff Green.

A week after he resigned as coach of the New Zealand Breakers in controversial circumstances, the outspoken Green will be served with a bankruptcy notice.

Two months ago Green's company, WT Basketball Operations - which was used to run his former team, the Waikato Titans - was put into liquidation with known debts of more than $60,000.

The action was brought by Auckland-based Bartercard New Zealand, which said it was owed $35,000.

Yesterday, Bartercard's lawyer, Jon Olphert, said Green had personally guaranteed the debt WT Basketball had incurred.

"We wound up the company and nothing happened. So Bartercard is taking steps under the personal guarantee against Mr Green."

Green could not be reached for comment yesterday.

His exclusive Hamilton home on the banks of the Waikato River is for sale.

Yesterday, when the Herald visited the house, Green's stepfather, Barry Palmer, said Green was looking at taking a job as a sports columnist for a Sunday paper.

He said the house was being sold because it was too big, not for financial reasons.

The application for the issue of a bankruptcy notice was filed in the High Court at Hamilton on Friday.

Once Green has been served with the notice he will have 14 days to pay the debt.

Mr Olphert said if Green did not pay, a creditor petition would be filed in the High Court to have Green adjudged bankrupt

It will not be the first time for Green. In 1993, he was adjudged bankrupt. He was discharged three years later.

Last week, Green resigned as coach of the Breakers - New Zealand's professional basketball team competing in the Australian national league - claiming that complaints from Australian teams about his courtside behaviour had been held against him.

Initially Green reported that he had been sacked, but Breakers management denied it, saying they had an "employment dispute" with him.

To further confuse the situation, Green resigned as coach the next day, one hour before the Breakers' game against the West Sydney Razorbacks, which they lost 103-95. But the day after that it was claimed he had quit only for that game.

Finally on Tuesday last week, Green and the Breakers announced they had come to an agreement, the terms of which would remain strictly confidential.

Frank Arsego is now coach.

Last year, Basketball New Zealand fined Green $5000 for making obscene gestures at Nelson supporters when he led Waikato to their national league title.

In 2001, he was fined for publicly criticising referees after earlier being fined for alleging that national coach Tab Baldwin was racially biased in his selections.

Green had his contract as special projects manager with the Waikato tribe Tainui terminated in 1999.