KEY POINTS:
When the team from the nation's biggest city struggles to come up with a measly nine grand, and the team from the South Island's biggest metropolitan centre cries poverty before a ball has even clattered off a rim, it's a question that really has to be asked.
Across
the ditch, things don't appear much better for basketball. Worse even, as perennial ANBL contenders such as the Sydney Kings and Brisbane Bullets are going to the wall.
Surely the game in this part of the world must be going through hard times? Not so, says just about anyone connected to the sport.
In terms of the big picture, basketball is a boom sport. Playing numbers are up across the board and many clubs on both sides of the Tasman are attracting record crowds.
Auckland is a most curious conundrum, with the Breakers going from strength to strength while Auckland Stars and _ to a lesser extent _ Harbour Heat struggle just to stay afloat in the domestic league.
When Canterbury's struggles are factored in, not to mention Otago's, and measured against the success the sport enjoys in the likes of Hawkes Bay and Nelson _ teams that attract thousands rather than dozens of spectators _ the problem looks awfully like a big-city malaise.
In other words, folk in the big towns just have too much else to do.
"In a metropolitan area you have so much more to compete with than in the provincial areas," said Breakers chief executive Richard Clarke.
"In our league, you look at Townsville and Cairns and they do very well and attract big crowds because they are the biggest thing in their region.
"Whereas [in Auckland] we have Super 14 teams, we have the Warriors, the big stage shows that come to town. They are all a factor on any sports business. It's not unique to basketball."
That view would seem to be supported by rugby's Air New Zealand Cup, where expansion teams such as Hawkes Bay and Manawatu are thriving while the likes of Auckland, Wellington and Canterbury endure huge drop-offs in interest.
But Clarke's Breakers continue to thrive despite the competition. A club whose structure is often held up as an example of how it should be done, the Breakers have solid foundations. The problem with Sydney and Brisbane and, it has to be said after recent events, Auckland Stars, appears to be an unsustainable business model.
The failing clubs, however, don't represent the norm, Clarke said. "There are isolated examples where as a business some individual clubs are struggling. That is what has happened with Sydney in our league. But just because one club, with their ownership and the way it has been run hasn't worked out, doesn't mean the game is in bad heart."
In fairness to Auckland, whose struggles were made painfully public this week, the club operates under severely restrictive constraints. And it is not alone.
Auckland, Harbour and Waikato have been referred to as the "Bermuda Triangle" of the NBL, a reference to the lack of suitable venues and poor spectator numbers.
Harbour's gym is dated and too big, Auckland's is too small and in the wrong place, while Waikato don't really have one and are forced to play most of their games in Te Awamutu.
It's a fundamental problem recognised by Basketball New Zealand chief executive Dale Stephens, who points to the success of Wellington Saints as proof basketball can thrive in the cities.
"Wellington has a huge number of advantages, purely by luck," he says.
Most of them revolve around their venue, a modern, comfortable waterfront stadium.
"If you look at the other areas it is not just a big-city malaise but also the quality and location of the venue and access to the venue."
The struggles of teams such as the Stars was "not symptomatic of a problem with basketball but symptomatic of a problem with the infrastructure of the city", he said.
John Hunt, chief executive of Harbour Basketball, agrees.
"Auckland is big enough to support two NBL teams. What we need is a [purpose-built] 2000-seat stadium for the teams to share."
The problem is even more pressing in Waikato, where the Pistons face an annual hand-wringing exercise over where to play its finals games. Mystery Creek, Hamilton's only suitable venue, is seldom available when it is needed.
Stephens knows the issue of suitable venues is the biggest thing holding the NBL back. He also knows he is powerless to do anything without help from local, even central government.
"There were obviously issues with the league this year but I think they are symptomatic of the wider issues facing sport in general. The actual appeal of the game continues. But there is a lot of work to do in the background on the infrastructure and management of the league."
