A former Naismith student, J. H. Greenwood, introduced basketball to New Zealand when he was appointed physical director of the Wellington branch of the YMCA in 1908.
Encouragement and resources to spread the game were supplied by the Physical Welfare and Recreation Branch of the Internal Affairs Department.
Basic technique, the coaching expertise to teach basketball and the regular competition to hone skills were all also lacking.
The government-sponsored construction of war memorial community halls, in which basketball could be played, helped to alleviate the facilities obstacle.
Late in 1981, six men's teams – a mixture of club and provincial representative sides – went out alone and created an inaugural national league.
An allowance of two imported players (invariably Americans with college basketball experience) per team, and the fact that games were played in the evening indoors, helped turn the league into a new family entertainment option.
Emblematic of these boom years was the league final played in Wellington in 1985 between local side Exchequer Saints and the Auckland Stars.
Won by Saints in the final second of overtime, from a shot fired behind the three-point line by American import Kenny McFadden, the game was broadcast live on television to 750,000 viewers.
Competition from other indoor sports like cricket and netball, a lack of player development and poor management decisions were all factors in the decline of the national men's league in the early 1990s.
In 1995 it was split into three provincial competitions – two in the North Island and one in the South – with a week-long tournament final to find a national champion.
The Tall Blacks qualified for the 2004 Athens Olympics, but again finished with a 1–5 record and lost to Australia in the playoff for ninth place.