NBL: New Zealand Breakers’ billboard sledge blows up in team’s face

The Breakers made a point of sledging club royalty Corey Webster. Photo / Instagram

The New Zealand Breakers are flying high at the top end of the ladder and their resurgence has been one of the stories of the season so far.

And the clash against the Perth Wildcats was always going to be a special one with Corey Webster playing his first game for the Wildcats against his former team.

Webster is one of the Breakers’ most loyal servants and won three NBL championship with the team.

So it was surprising when the Breakers’ social media put out an eyebrow-raising post in the lead-up to the game that took aim at Webster, featuring a billboard advertisement comparing him to a pussycat.

It’s safe to say the since-deleted post fired up Webster, who was injected into Perth’s starting line-up and scored 26 points including 16 in the third quarter in a matchwinning performance.

The Wildcats won 94-82 and Webster admitted his old team’s sledge gave him an extra spurt of motivation.

“I was pretty surprised by that to be honest after I’ve given my heart and soul to this club for many years,” he said.

“For them to personally go at me was a bit surprising, but I don’t need extra motivation when it comes to basketball. This is a game I love and I’m a pro, and this is something I’ve done for a long time so I didn’t need extra motivation.

“It was still definitely there in the back of my mind and before the game I really wanted to have a great performance, and come in here and get the win. It was a little bit of extra motivation for sure.”

Corey Webster of the Perth Wildcats in action against the New Zealand Breakers. Photo / Getty

Breakers coach Mody Moar apologised for the post but said the entire Breakers organisation prided itself in learning from its mistakes.

“We are one team. Players, coaching staff, front office, social media, marketing — you choose whatever you want,” Maor said.

“Within this team, everybody has the privilege to go and make mistakes. The way we are judged is how we respond to those mistakes. Players make mistakes, they’ll learn from it and the same with me.

“Social media make mistakes and they’ll learn from it, and they’ll be better.

“This is what growth looks like in every aspect. It’s not him or us or them, it’s all of us taking this mistake in stride, learning from it and moving forward.”