The National Basketball League Rookie of the Year is an annual National Basketball League (NBL) award given since the 1992 New Zealand NBL season to the best performing rookie New Zealander of the regular season.[1] The award was originally given to the best Young Player of the Year from 1986 until 1991, with centre Warren Adams winning the award twice within four years. In 1992, forward Pero Cameron won the league's first Rookie of the Year award. This name stood until 2005, when a slight adjustment to the rules saw the Rookie of the Year opened up to any player under the age of 20, with guard Jarrod Kenny (age 19) winning the 2005 Young Player of the Year.[2] This was changed back to Rookie of the Year in 2006, and remained every year until it was not awarded in 2017.[3] The award was brought back in 2018.[4] Current NBA player, Steven Adams, won the 2011 Rookie of the Year award; Steven is the half-brother of two-time Young Player of the Year, Warren Adams.[5]
Winners
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Denotes the years when the award was called Young Player of the Year. |