BIO: Born in Auckland, Bailey played both rugby and basketball in primary school.

In 2003 and 2004, he attended Rangeview Intermediate School.

For high school, he attended Mount Albert Grammar School where he graduated Year 12 in 2009.

In 2010, he attended Fraser High School in Hamilton, New Zealand for one final year where he was a member of Fraser’s national championship-winning team.

NBL EXPERIENCE

Duane Bailey made his NBL debut with the New Zealand Breakers at 22 years of age. He went scoreless in his first NBL game.

Bailey, Jack Salt, Luuk Witteveen, and Alonzo Burton all joined the Breakers in 2013 as Development Players, joining a New Zealand roster that was undergoing a major coaching change.

“When I found out I was very happy to be a part of the best team in the ANBL, I’m still shocked about it, I don’t thinks its really hit me yet. I’m very excited to be a part of the team.”said Bailey upon signing a development player deal with the Breakers.

“I hope to achieve a lot as development player, develop my inside and outside game, offense and defensively. I expect to come in and learn a lot off the coaches and players, and also show people I’m capable of playing in this league. My plan is to continue playing professional basketball either in NZ or overseas.”

After winning three consecutive championships with New Zealand, Lemanis was named head coach of the Australian men’s national basketball team. His departure saw assistant Dean Vickerman elevated to head coach and tasked with extending the Breakers championship streak.

After winning three consecutive championships with New Zealand, Lemanis was named head coach of the Australian men’s national basketball team. His departure saw assistant Dean Vickerman elevated to head coach and tasked with extending the Breakers championship streak.

Vickerman was taking over a Breakers squad that had lost star import Cedric Jackson (Europe) and Dillon Boucher through retirement and, as a result, started the season poorly, losing three out of their first four games. The poor start led to Vickerman sending out a SOS to former Breakers favourite and two-time champion Gary Wilkinson (15.4 points, 6.7 rebounds and 1.1 assists), who joined the team in late October. Then in December, perhaps motivated by the team’s sluggish start, veteran CJ Bruton (6.1 points, 1.2 rebounds, and 2.1 assists) let it be known he would retire at the end of the season just prior to playing the 500th game of his career. By January, the Breakers made a second move and brought in Casey Frank (5.8 points, 2.8 rebounds, and 1.6 assists) to replace the injured Alex Pledger (10.0 points, 7.3 rebounds and 1.7 blocks), who had multiple stints on the sidelines and only managed to appear in 13 games.

American guard Kerron Johnson (12.6 points, 2.8 rebounds, 4.3 assists, and 1.1 steals), who had signed as a replacement for Jackson, struggled to fill the large void left at the point guard spot, and Thomas Abercrombie (15.5 points, 3.9 rebounds, 1.2 assists) had to shoulder the load for much of the season, finding himself with a lack of space due to Johnson’s lacklustre range. After not being able to put more than two consecutive wins together all year, they ended their season in seventh place (11–17).

The positives for the season came in the form of career-high scoring efforts from young guard duo Corey Webster (8.5 points, 1.9 rebounds, and 2.2 assists) and Reuben Te Rangi (5.4 points, 2.0 rebounds, and 0.6 assists) whose improving play showed promise for the Breakers future.

On 21 March 2014, Bruton played his final NBL game in front of a huge Breakers’ crowd at Vector Arena in a loss to Cairns (83-95). With his family and friends in attendance, he recorded 11 points, 3 assists and 1 rebound in what was his 516th NBL game.

As a development player Bailey would see minimal playing opportunities, appearing in only five games and scoring a total of six points.

2014/15
After a dismal season the year prior, where the team missed out on the NBL playoffs despite having won the previous three seasons in a row, the Breakers regrouped by replacing imports Kerron Johnson and Gary Wilkinson with big man Ekene Ibekwe and fan favourite Cedric Jackson, who had led the team to back-to-back titles previously (2012, 2013).

This season saw the exits of CJ Bruton (retired) and Daryl Corletto (to Melbourne) and replaced with Rhys Carter (via Adelaide) and Tai Wesley, who qualified as a local player due to being born in Guam under the league’s Asian player rule.

New Zealand would go on to defeat Cairns in the Grand Final, clinching the Breakers fourth title in five seasons. In his second year as a development player, Bailey would appear in 27 games, averaging 2 points, 1.2 rebounds, and 0.2 assists.

2015/16
The Breakers retained every player from their 2015 championship-winning roster minus Rhys Carter (to Sydney) and Ekene Ibekwe (to Europe). To replace the pair, the club picked up Australian point guard Shane McDonald and rookie American big man Charles Jackson. New Zealand’s pre-season was met with a number of challenges which included Alex Pledger being absent due to recovering from off-season foot surgery, Thomas Abercrombie being forced to the sidelines with a nagging hamstring strain and the exit of Corey Webster, who headed to the US to trial with the New Orleans Pelicans. In a move to replace them, the Breakers elevated development players Shea Ili and Tai Wynyard, while also signing Everard Bartlett as a replacement for Webster.

New Zealand were handed a shock loss to Adelaide in their season opener (71-90). Without Webster, Abercrombie and Pledger, the Breakers had limited scoring options, the highest scorer being Cedric Jackson (14 points). At half-time, the score was 51–26 in the 36ers favour, which saw the team’s 26 points become the second lowest first-half score and second biggest halftime deficit in team history.

With a dwindling record (1-3), New Zealand were boosted by the addition of Corey Webster (19.6 points, 2.2 rebounds, and 2.3 assists), who returned after failing to secure a roster spot with the NBA’s New Orleans Pelicans. In order to add Webster to the roster, Bailey was released after appearing in three games.

Duane Bailey played three seasons the New Zealand Breakers. He averaged 1.8 points, 1.1 rebounds, and 0.1 assists in 35 NBL games.

Dan Boyce (832 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.