Past, Present NBL Talents Sweep Major Awards

There was a distinct NBL flavour at last night’s NZNBL Awards, led by former New Zealand Breaker Rob Loe making close to a clean sweep of eligible honours.

Loe was named as the competition’s MVP and Defensive Player of the Year, while also earning selection in the competition’s All-Star Five.

He was also named as the competition’s Most Outstanding Forward and Most Outstanding NZ Forward, and the league’s rebounding champion.

Loe averaged 20.8 points, 11.5 rebounds 1.9 steals and 2.1 blocks per game across the NZNBL regular season.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">?Rob Loe is your 2023 MVP! ?<br><br>Loe posted averages of 20.8 PTS, 11.5 REB, 4.1 AST, 1.9 STL &amp; 2.1 BLK on 57.8% shooting from the field and 41.4% from three in 17 games this season ?<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/SalsNBL?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#SalsNBL</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/skysportnz?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@skysportnz</a> <a href="https://t.co/PB0FHlT4UG">pic.twitter.com/PB0FHlT4UG</a></p>&mdash; Sal’s NBL (@nznbl) <a href="https://twitter.com/nznbl/status/1681393149283905536?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 18, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

The 2018 Commonwealth Games bronze medal winner recently announced his retirement from the NBL, but will continue his playing career in New Zealand.

Loe’s Auckland Tuatara teammate and Tasmania JackJumpers coach Jarrad Weeks was named in the All-Star Five alongside Loe, and also won the Keith Carr Trophy as the NZNBL’s Most Outstanding Guard.

Walter Brown was named as the Youth Player of the Year for his campaign with the Rams, and recently signed a three-year contract extension with the Tasmania JackJumpers.

Former NBL imports Jeremy Kendle and Todd Withers were also named in the All-Star Five, with Kendle also taking home the competition’s scoring title for his 24.6 points per game average across the season.