BIO: Dererk Pardon was born and raised in Cleveland, Ohio (USA) where he attended Villa Angela-St. Joseph High School.

NBL EXPERIENCE

Dererk Pardon made his NBL debut with the New Zealand Breakers at 25 years of age. He scored six points in his first game.

With the departure of Dan Shamir, assistant Mody Maor was elevated to head coach, with the Breakers entering their first season where they would play regular home games in two seasons.

The Breakers lost six of their top eight players (Yanni Wetzell, Hugo Besson, Peyton Siva, Finn Delany, Ousmane Dieng and Chasson Randle), and only Thomas Abercrombie, Robert Loe and William McDowell-White returning from the previous season.

Tom Vodanovich (via Sydney), Izayah Mauriohooho-Le’Afa and Cameron Gliddon (both via South East Melbourne) were added for defence and perimeter shooting off the bench. At the same time, Dererk Pardon, Jarrell Brantley and Barry Brown Jr were signed as import players. Utilising the NBL Next Star Program, the team also added French NBA prospect Rayan Rupert.

With Abercrombie missing the first month of the season due to suffering a torn retina the Breakers’ season began with a loss to Melbourne, a game which gave little indication to the defensive behemoth they were set to become in NBL23 but four rounds into the season, they already equalled their total number of wins from the previous campaign.

The Breakers started round five with a 99-70 beatdown of the Adelaide 36ers, which included a dominant effort from both Brown Jr (22 points) and Brantley (22 points and four steals) to force the 36ers into 18 turnovers while the Breakers went 15 of 30 from long distance. Two nights later, New Zealand posted their biggest victory ever at Spark Arena with a 94-62 victory over the Tasmania JackJumpers. Against Tasmania, Pardon recorded a double-double of 15 points and 14 rebounds, while Barry Brown Jr led the scoring for the Breakers with 24 points off the bench. The win catapulted the Breakers over the Sydney Kings to sit atop the NBL ladder.

After two seasons living out of suitcases, the Breakers had revived themselves as a contender this season, and the following game saw a top of the table clash against Sydney that more than lived up to the hype. The Kings’ led comfortably for most of the game, but a late run from New Zealand, who outscored them 31-17 in the last 10 minutes behind Barry Brown Jr (22 points), who had settled into a sixth man role, narrowed the gap but failed to complete what would have been a epic fight back. The Breakers fell short 81-77 while also losing Rupert for two months with a broken wrist.

The Breakers returned to their winning ways against Adelaide the following week behind a huge fourth quarter from Barry Brown Jr, who scored 14 of his 22 points in the final term. The 89-83 victory saw Pardon notch up 19 points and 10 rebounds to continue his dominance on the glass (recording his third double-double in four games), and Brantley also adding 17 points and 10 rebounds. A loss to Perth (84-92) briefly slowed the Breakers’ momentum, but even after the loss to the Wildcats, New Zealand entered December having won 11 from 13 contests.

Other key games during the Breakers run home included a 93-90 loss to Perth where Pardon and TaShawn Thomas stole the show. Pardon led all scorers with 28 points while also pulling down a game high 12 rebounds, and Thomas led the Wildcats’ scoring with 23 points and amassed 10 rebounds. a epic Tyler Harvey half-court bomb to defeat New Zealand, 78-76, and snap Illawarra’s 11-game losing streak. With the Hawks down by one in the dying seconds, Harvey pulled up from just inside half court to hit the dramatic game winner, stunning the New Zealand crowd. Dererk Pardon was relentless for the Breakers, providing 19 points and a NBL season high 17 rebounds for New Zealand in the loss.

With Barry Brown Jr returning to the team after missing a number of weeks with a groin injury, the Breakers rebounded with a convincing 99-71 win against the Brisbane Bullets. The 28-point victory improved the Breakers to 15-10 record, just one win behind the second placed Cairns Taipans. Jarrell Brantley helped New Zealand get the win with a strong performance, scoring 22 points, while Dererk Pardon contributed 17 of his own with 9 rebounds to go along with it.

To round out the regular season, the Breakers survived a mighty scare from the Illawarra Hawks to record a 91-81 victory and move into second position. The bottom placed Hawks took a stunning 16-point lead into halftime before New Zealand flipped a switch and outscored Illawarra 29-9 in the third quarter. They withstood several Hawks runs in the final term to hold onto victory. Brown Jr finished the game high scorer for the Breakers with 22 points off the bench while Jarrell Brantley added 20 points and 6 rebounds. The win allowed New Zealand to leapfrog Cairns and finish second overall during the regular season.

Pardon played in every game for New Zealand, while averaging 11.8 points, 8.1 rebounds, and 1.1 blocks. The Breakers’ finished the regular season in second place with a 18–10 record, clinching their first playoff appearance in five years. Barry Brown Jr. (19.4 points, 2.8 rebounds, 2.5 assists, and 1.3 steals) and Dererk Pardon (11.8 points, 8.1 rebounds, and 1.1 blocks) were both named to the All-NBL second team, Brown Jr also being awarded the league’s Best Sixth Man award. Jarrell Brantley (16.2 points, 6 rebounds, 1.7 assists, and 1.5 steals) was later named the Breakers club MVP.

With Tasmania having defeated Cairns (87-79) and advancing through the NBL play-in tournament, the Breakers semi-final opponents were set.

New Zealand smashed Tasmania, 88-68, in Game 1 of the Playoffs. It was a wire-to-wire victory for New Zealand, as Mody Maor’s men established a 16-point first half lead. Tasmania got the deficit back to two at halftime before the Breakers exploded with a 49-31 second half. Big man Dererk Pardon imposed his will for New Zealand with 15 points and 9 rebounds, while Will McDowell-White had 13 points, 7 assists and 6 rebounds. Rashard Kelly was the JackJumpers’ leading scorer with 12.

The JackJumpers ‘defended the island’ in game two, defeating the Breakers 89-78. Milton Doyle starred for Tasmania, as he poured in 23 points, with several of those coming during a game defining run across the third and fourth quarters. Jack McVeigh added 16 for the victors. Dererk Pardon recorded a double-double of 15 points and 11 rebounds for the Breakers, and Jarrell Brantley had 17 points and 9 rebounds.

New Zealand then punched their ticket to the NBL Championship Series with a gritty 92-77 semi-final win over the Ants in game three at home. Brown Jr proved the difference, finishing with 32 points (10/16 and 2/2 from deep) and three steals to guide the Breakers to their first Championship Series for the first time since 2016. Dererk Pardon (15 points, 14 rebounds) was also huge for the Breakers with a monster double-double, while Jarrell Brantley (14 points, seven rebounds) was also a big factor in the win.

On the opposite side of the bracket, Sydney eliminated Cairns to reach the championship series but suffered a surprise home defeat from New Zealand, who had struggled against the Kings all season, claiming game one, 95-87, in front of 13,145 shocked Kings fans. William McDowell-White (19 points, 9 rebounds and 9 assists) starred for New Zealand, with Barry Brown Jr (19 points off the bench) and Jarrell Brantley (16 points and 7 rebounds) playing key minutes also. Simon was the Kings’ leading scorer with 18 points and 6 steals as the Kings’ leading scorer, Derek Walton Jr was forced to leave the game in the last quarter with a injured leg.

Sydney entered Game two with no Xavier Cooks, and on the Breakers’ home floor at Spark Arena. New Zealand’s case for victory got even stronger when Kings’ leading scorer Derrick Walton Jr managed just four minutes of game time.

With the Kings missing their two best players, the Breakers playing at home, it was expected to be a easy win for New Zealand. Up stepped Justin Simon and the Kings’ backup brigade to snatch the win away from New Zealand, 81-74.

Returning to Sydney, the Kings took a 2-1 lead behind a dominant 91-68 victory over the Breakers in front of the biggest crowd in NBL history. 18,049 fans poured into Qudos Bank Arena, the biggest attendance ever for a NBL game, and watched Walton Jr shake off his injury concerns to notch up 12 points, 9 assists and 6 rebounds while Cooks, who had signed a NBA contract to play with the Washington Wizards that same day, added 10 points and 8 rebounds. McDowell-White was New Zealand’s leading scorer with 11 points.

Game four delivered a Breakers win in Auckland (80-70), extending the series to five games. Brantley (23 points), MacDowell-White (19 points) and Brown Jr (20 points) all coming up big in the do-or-die game for New Zealand. Derrick Walton Jr (18 points) and Angus Glover (12 points) finished as Sydney’s leading scorers.

Then in game five, the Breakers were up by 11 points in the first quarter before being pegged back. They then took another heavy lead deep into the fourth quarter, but the Kings put together a 14-0 scoring run to once again snatch victory from the jaws of defeat.

The Kings were able to squeeze a few extra fans into Qudos Bank Arena for game five, breaking the record for fan attendance which they had set in their previous home game with 18,124 in attendance. In one of the greatest championship games in history, Sydney put together a 14-0 run in the final quarter to secure the victory (77-69) and win their first back-to-back titles since their 2003-2005 three-peat. Derrick Walton Jr (21 points and 6 assists) was named the Finals MVP while Cooks (19 points and 11 rebounds) efforts were also key to the victory. Brown Jr (22 points off the bench) was top scorer for the Breakers.

67,811 fans attended the Championship Series, the highest Grand Final attendance in NBL history.

Dererk Pardon played one season in the NBL. He averaged 11.8 points, 8.1 rebounds, and 0.8 assists in 35 NBL games.

Dan Boyce (815 Posts)

Dan Boyce is a die-hard Sydney Kings fan who grew up in Melbourne during the roaring 90's of Australian Basketball and spent far too much time collecting Futera NBL Basketball cards.