BIO: Paul Ramiha “Pāora” Winitana played the majority of his career in the New Zealand National Basketball League (NZNBL) for the Hawke’s Bay Hawks.

He was ordained as a Mormon bishop in 2005 and chooses not to play basketball on Sundays.

Winitana was born in Hastings (NZ) and attended Hastings Boys’ High School and played for the school’s A1 team in 1994 where he scored a New Zealand secondary school record for points scored in a single game against Central Hawke’s Bay where he scored 96 points.

In 1995, he attended the Church College of New Zealand and helped his team defeat Palmerston North Boys High in the National secondary school boys final.

He was selected to the all-tournament team, and was chosen to play as one of the top ten high school players in the country against the country’s top ten second division players; his team lost the match but he was awarded the game MVP.

NBL EXPERIENCE

Paora Winitana made his NBL debut with the New Zealand Breakers at 26 years of age. He scored two points in his first game.

In March 2003, Three Waikato businessmen, Michael Redman, Dallas Fisher and Keith Ward, acquired a NBL licence for a team based in New Zealand. The inaugural Breakers roster was built from the core playing group of New Zealand’s national team, which had finished in fourth place at the FIBA World Championships six months prior.

Phill Jones, who had been the ‘Tall Blacks’ leading scorer (18.2 ppg) at the World Champs, Winitana, Paul Henare, Dillon Boucher, and Pero Cameron (who was named team captain) formed the Breakers’ local core. The roster was then filled out with up and coming New Zealand talent like Aaron Olsen and Lindsey Tait and some Australian NBL veterans like Ben Melmeth and Brad Williams to add leadership. Lastly, Casey Frank, a long-time import in the New Zealand national league, was signed as the team’s second import.

Jeff Green was implemented as the team’s first coach and, despite the Breakers being picked by many to finish dead last, they pulled out a win in their very first NBL game against Adelaide (111-110).

After initial success, the Breakers went on to lose ten of their next eleven games (proving the pundits right) to languish near the bottom of the NBL ladder for the remainder of the season.

Twelve games into the season (2-10), Green was fired and succeeded by the team’s assistant coach Frank Arsego, who had also headed up the basketball program at the Australian Institute of Sport for the past five years. Arsego would then bring in Mike Chappell (22.7 points, 5.2 rebounds, and 1.7 assists), who finished top five in the league in both points and three-point shooting while playing in Canberra the season before. Both Casey Frank and Brad Williams would be released to make way for Chappell, who went on to lead the team in scoring and named Breakers club MVP.

Chappell’s presence delivered a mid-season resurgence where a five game winning streak towards the end of the season gave the Breakers a realistic shot of qualifying for the playoffs. Needing to win both of their final games in the final round to claim a playoff berth, the Breakers instead went winless and finished in tenth place (12–21).

Winitana averaged 4.4 points, 2 rebounds, and 0.7 assists alongside teammates Jones (13.8 points, 3.9 rebounds, 1.8 assists, and 1.1 steals) and Ben Melmeth (13.4 points, 7.9 rebounds, and 2.2 assists) who were the best among the team’s local talent.

Winitana would see action in 31 games, averaging 4.4 points, 2 rebounds, and 0.7 assists.

2007/08
Winitana played overseas for the follow four seasons, before returning for a second stint with the Breakers. During the 2007/08 season, Winitana averaged 3.0 points, 1.0 rebounds, and 0.5 assists across 26 games and was a part of the Breakers squad which finished in seventh place (16-14).

ADELAIDE 36ERS
2008/09
In 2008/09, Winitana averaged 2.9 points and 1.6 rebounds, and 1.2 assists, and helped guide the 36ers to a fifth place finish in the regular season with a 15-15 record.