Tom Abercrombie announces his retirement from basketball

NBL and New Zealand Breakers legend Tom Abercrombie fronted up to the media to announce his retirement following 16 years and four titles with his hometown club.

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Tommy is one of the greatest players I’ve ever had the honor of coaching but he’s really one of the greatest people I’ve ever had the honor of meeting extremely proud to call you a friend extremely proud for the time we spent together extremely grateful for it and I’m really looking forward to

Hitting the court soon for the next battles that we got because the season’s not done yet and Tommy’s not done yet um uh see if I can get through this but thank you everyone um for coming out today after 16 years at the Beed Breakers I’ll be retiring from all

Professional basketball at the end of the season basketball has been a massive part of my life for as long as I can remember um providing me countless Joys and experiences and all good things must come to an end I’m very at peace with this decision I’ve been so lucky to

Spend my entire career playing for the breakers my hometown team in front of my friends and family Sport’s taken me around the globe but in doing so has only reinforced that it’s here in this place with this team where I’ve truly been able to find myself there’s countless people to thank

Um I want to start by thanking the club for giving me the platform to live out my dreams and play the sport I love for a living Matt Walsh and the ownership group Lisa Simon thank you for putting your faith in me to lead this team it’s been a

Privilege to carry on the legacy of those who have come before me and add my own chapter to our history I’ve been fortunate enough to play through many different eras at the club and I want to give special thanks as well to Paul Liz and the blackw

Family for giving me my start and all the wonderful Years playing under your leadership as well to my coaches Andre L Manus Dean vickerman Paul herard Kevin brasswell Dan Shamir Modi thank you thank you for helping me grow as a player and a person each of you taught me very different yet

Valuable lessons I’m truly grateful for your time and efforts and feel very honored to call each of you good friends as well to the rest for the support staff managers physios trainers everyone that’s helped me along my journey thank you as well to my teammates past present the connections and friends that

I’ve made in the locker room will last a lifetime the camaraderie banter and energy of the locker room I’ll perhaps miss the most to the fans thank you for your support and encouragement over many years it’s been an absolute pleasure to play in front of you feel your energy spur me on

On the roar I hear as I hear my name called out coming out the tunnel it’s not something I’ve ever taken for granted finally I want to thank my family my basketball Journey started young seed planted by my amazing mom who coached me as a youngster Mom Dad Hayden

Nicola thank you for being the most amazing and supportive family it’s my children pilot Porter and PESA thank you for letting a dare live out his dreams it’s time for me to be there for you now um I’ve known for a while I think uh

Going into this season I knew I knew it would be my last one um you know I’ve tried to not think about it as much as possible you know probably halfway through the season was when I really made that that decision in my head and talked to my family about it and

Um yeah it’s been a it’s been a tough one knowing that it will be the the last one but uh as I said I’ve tried to remove it from my thoughts as much as I can you know and it’s it’s it’s snuck up on me and once you you sit here and

Start talking about it becomes a bit more real and emotional and everything that comes along with that but uh yeah obviously an emotional time is that because it’s B you’re a home boy this club has to you like a family yeah look as I said this um 16

Years playing for this club now it’s it’s been a massive part of my life um all sorts of Life events and things have happened while I’ve been here and I’ve grown up here I’ve seen so many people come and go through and kids who got their photo with me

When they were 5 years old in my first Breakers game now coming up when they’re 20 and having a chat to me after the game and um Reminiscing on some of those good times so uh yeah I it’s it’s emotional for a number of reasons obviously as I said putting

A putting a definite end on things and um making that a bit more real um but you know all those all those thoughts and feelings and things that have come along with being here and the people um that I’ve been able to share those times with um um I’ve all played

Such special parts of my life um yeah it all comes rushing back to you I guess obviously you played with so many different players I know when you celebrated your 400th game you made no has to yeah Mecca was a a great friend still is a great friend but a great um Great

Captain for me and mentor when I was younger um just a an awesome role model but uh you know he taught me taught me a lot about uh you know leadership and what it meant to play for something and play with heart and Manor and all

Those sorts of things but I’ve been so blessed to play with so many wonderful players over my career I remember when I first came into the breakers and you know I I came into this building and first practice I’m practicing with my heroes you know I was practicing with

Kirk Penny and Phil Jones and Paul herard Dylan Boucher these are guys I grew up watching and all of a sudden they became teammates and then friends um you know to get the chance to play with them and uh you know all the all the teammates that have come throughout the

Years is truly such a big part of what makes um sport amazing is is the people and those teammates that you spend so much time with you know we’re we’re in each other’s faces all the time and it’s uh it’s a family every year you know new members of the family

Arrive and different people leave um but those bonds that you build up over time with guys like micker and everyone else uh as I said those those last far beyond today how important has it been to you through your career to play hard with fear to work hard and show

Class yeah look I’ve I’ve always prided myself on on being a professional and doing things the right way um I try to set a good example for my peers and anyone watching me um I’ve always tried to be humble um carry myself in a way that um is

Inspirational to others and I know that we’re role models in the community there’s there’s kids that look up to us every interaction with a kid after the game can me the world to them um so that’s probably one of the things I’m most proud of is um how I’ve been able

To interact and and impact my community and hopefully have a a positive effect and impression those that I’ve been able to to meet along the way perspec uh yeah look the the club has changed a lot I guess with this the sport over the years I remember coming into the breakers

And um know we’d never won a championship or anything like that we played it the norshore Event Center in front of a couple of thousand people um coming off the back of of what the tall blacks had done at the 2002 World champs basketball starting to to build

In this country and the NorthShore was kind of the Hub of that and the breakers and our success came along at the right time and we were able to um capture the hearts of a lot of people those Championship runs that we went on were you know inredible and as we had success

The the momentum and excitement for basketball built as well um and so to the club you know we’ve become bigger and bigger to selling out games at spark Arena and playing in front of 9 a half thousand people um you know we’ve come a long way and it’s just it’s it’s been

Wonderful to to play a small part in that Journey toughest season no doubt was was the time we spent on the road um during co uh it feels like a bad dream now it was you know long enough ago and feels like we don’t talk about Co at all

Anymore which is a good thing but those were two very very tough years very very tough um but certainly one of my my favorite moments was being able to come back after that you know we talk a lot about adversity in sports and what it does for

Us and the lessons it teaches us and P to go through what we went through as a club and come out the other side and to run on the court again after going through all that back at spark arena in front of our home fans uh you know that

Was that was one of my proudest moments to sort of make it out the other side and um you know you don’t take things for granted after going through something like that and the support and love that we got from our fans upon coming home was really special did that

Suck some life out it bit of soul think absolutely yeah no there there’s many times that um you I wanted to to call it quits over there and come home um but it’s just it’s not me you know I couldn’t couldn’t leave my team in its moment of need and

I wanted to see us through that that period and you know obviously was able to do that and to be part of the Resurgence last year and the the enjoyment that we all got out of that out of being home again um to kind of fulfill that little part of the journey

And that cycle was was really rewarding um yeah it has it’s I’m happy that I was able to play to a stage and to an age where you know my kids could watch me play and understand what I did and why I did it um my my oldest son’s been counting down

The games um for the last few weeks every time I get back he’s asking me how many games have I got left Eddie um and you know they’re they’re excited to to spend some more time with me I’ve um you know I’m not retire ing because I want to spend more time with

My kids but I’m very excited to do so you know I’ve missed out on summer holidays for for 16 years basically I’ve still yet to attend any of my friends weddings everyone seems to want to get married in the summertime for some reason it’s not a good time for me um

But I’m excited to do little things like that um you know those are those are special times you only you only get once or twice and my kids are starting to get a little bit older now but but uh you know they know what dad’s done now and

Um always my biggest supporters so I’m really really pleased and and proud that I’ve been able to set a good example for them I mean he informed me before last season that last season was going to be his last and um really happy it wasn’t this is kind of something we’ve been talking

About just as friends talk about things and um I think the official decision was made a few months ago and we kind of had a little chat and in a very Tom way he just went about his business being the best pro the best leader the best player

He could be finding a way to help us in any way possible um never felt it affect anything he did and okay that’s basically it for few years now is there one moment countless ones um the on court one is the play that you guys just saw on the screen

When when he stole that ball from Bry at the end of the game it’s not so much for me about the steal he’s done a bunch of amazing defensive plays during his career it’s about the mental fortitude to be in the moment in a game that meant

So much to all of us after a mistake to just stay focused stay on task do your job to the best of your ability and let the chips fall where they fall and that was a very impressive one the memories I’ll take for time or the things that I remember more or the

Things that happen here on this court and how he competes in in a practice and sets the tone for everyone or how he chooses when to speak and and how to speak and the Legacy that he lives for us as the people that need to continue it

After him is more in these walls than in Spar um good question I think in a lot of ways you know I don’t like the attention I’m not one for the spotlight but there’s so many people that have been part of my journey it’s more than

Just about me you know and it would it would feel wrong not to have the chance to acknowledge that um and you know give all those people that I thanked and what will be many more and many that I’ve probably forgotten their proper thanks over the the coming weeks too

Because this journey has been so much more than just about me and what I’ve done there’s so many other people who have helped me get here who have been part of it along the way and uh yeah they deserve as much thanks as as I do um so that’s probably

Why Tom mentioned before about being stuck in very close to coming home how much does that Su come up as a team stay not stayed put staying put is kind of surviving that time he led from the front um probably left the most in New Zealand going across and you could never

Tell not in a game not in a practice he was setting an example for all of all of us about how a professional athlete goes about his business and overcomes adversity City and did it with a true sense of responsibility for what the club means to all the people that were in New

Zealand it was inspiring and I think it set the tone for everybody who was there to to keep doing things the right way regardless of how tough it got Tom uh I had a good check with um one of your former teammates this morning Ray camon who was part of their

2009 W the championship and you’re also H the the Coach B he was talking about we’re just talking about your career and he just had nothing but things to say about you as a person on the court but he said his favorite thing about your game of schol of defense and

Defensive IQ for you I know you’re extremely humble man but how would you like to be remembered as a player in terms of your school uh yeah nice to hear that from from Ray Ray those were good times um I think I’d like to be remembered as

A a selfless player who did whatever it took to to help his team win I think that’s been a a Hallmark of my career as being able to not box myself into to playing a certain way I’ve I’ve adjusted to playing for many different coaches and tried

To play a role whatever was called upon me at the time um but certainly defense first has always been a um a point of Pride for me I’ve loved playing that end and being able to use my abilities and athletic GS to impact the the court at that end um it’s

Always I don’t know I’ve always just concentrated on on controlling what I can control on a basketball court and for me defense has always been the the easy thing it requires effort and intensity and attention to detail um you know it doesn’t matter if you

Make or miss a shot you can you can always play play hard at that end of the floor and uh and contribute to a game no matter what else is going on so that’s always been the base for me um you know I’ve had some fun at the other end too uh

You know probably a little bit more up and down and athletically gifted earlier on in my career and um had some fun catching some oops from Cedric Jackson and some of those guys those are those are great highlights and great memories but yeah for sure the defensive end is

Where I hang my hat and speaking of fun on the other end would you say that your dun on Jaren Jackson J 2019 against so you’re your best of all time in your career especially considering yeah yeah that was a good one um yeah I’ve always been a two-handed dunker too

I don’t know I still don’t know where that one came from I something inspired me to just use the one hand that time and um that was really cool one to to get that poster and um the fact that he’s gone on to do such great things

Just sort of makes it get bit with time which is really cool just last one for meac also of a gun golfer something yeah absolutely absolutely I’m looking forward to to spending a bit more time on the golf course and channeling my uh competitive instincts in that direction after

Thisy is it to see basketball booming you know when you leave school but in the last 15 20 years stage there there’s no what does me to you probably just to to relax and enjoy things a little bit more more it’s it’s tough professional sport you get caught up in the

Competitiveness and um The Grind of it a little bit sometimes and it’s hard to just step back and appreciate the opportunity that you have and um the enjoyment that you have from from playing a sport that you love like I’ve Loved basketball since I was a little

Kid and to be able to to play it for a living is something I don’t take for granted um so certainly I would tell myself to um just make sure that I am enjoying it um to smile and make sure that that fun is always front and center

Of of my mind because you know plenty of ups and downs and adversity as were spoken about through through a professional basketballers career but at the end of it all um man what I’ve been able to do is the the stuff that kids dream of you know been play playing

Basketball for a living for 16 years for my hometown team like it’s it’s nuts and I get goosebumps when I when I think about that you know we’ve got guys in our team who from the other side of the world you know basketball can take you many places

And often it does drag you in all sorts of different directions um there’s not many that get to do it or get to choose where they do it and let alone that be at home so I’m very lucky Tom as well um just wondering how much effect standing

Yeah it it definitely took away any um chance of a sparof the moment decision there um it was the competitor competitor in me was never going to accept that at that time um but to be honest you know it wasn’t really a a thought last year I I was

Just so focused on what we were doing and enjoying myself and having fun that um I didn’t think about it and still felt like I could contribute and had more to give um and that’s why you know I wanted to come back and Friday night is super important it’s you probably

Feel like as you said ear this could have been an email but this is also about making the playoffs again and getting into the playoffs and making a real run it how important is Friday night for the club for people to come out and not only support you and your

Decision but also make it l make it was like it was last Friday night and and bring in that value of the fand into yeah no Friday night is absolutely massive for us um started to feel it last week in that aara game just the the

Energy shift at spark as we get closer to playoff time and there’s just a there is a special energy in that place when there’s a little bit more on the line and a little bit more meaning and um yeah I hope I hope it’s packed in there

On Friday night because we need we need everyone to get us over the line it’s it’s uh it’s the biggest game of our season um there’s no doubt about that and we need as much support as we can to get us over the line and um there’s no

Better place I’ve played than spark arena with uh a little B something extra hanging in there you know as I said that that that energy in that place just goes up another notch and it’s a it’s a really fun place to play as a player um

When you got something to play for so hopefully we get a full crowd on Friday and can I get a one-onone this for you make sure um post home with you when you retired oh jeez just need to look in the mirror it’s I think Simon wants it

Um when Larry Bird retired no one would have predicted he would have gone on to coach the Indiana Paces quite well and then he became executive of the year for the NBA a couple years ago as well when you did your Masters have you got a plan

What you wanted to do with that Masters and could you see a path similar to B and be a coach and then ex an executive in basketball I can see a lot of different paths at the moment and I’m I’m trying not to uh to Tunnel myself into anything at the

Moment um finish off my Masters in Business Administration this first semester which will be great to to have in the back pocket but I’ve always tried to have a a thought to after basketball as I’ve played along and knowing that this time would come eventually and wanted to prepare myself as best as

Possible uh so I’m going to take time to to finish that off and spend some quality time with my kids and um yeah you know it’s a it’s a scary time in some respects but it’s also exciting too you know I’m excited for new challenges and um new adventures and whatever that

Is so look we’ll see what happens all right thank