Tony Rampton wasn't the only Giant with a headache in Auckland on Thursday.
For the first time this season, the Nelson Giants look like a national basketball league team, rather than a M*A*S*H unit.
There are stylish wins and ugly wins but, when the points are tallied at the end of the weekend, any win in the National Basketball League still counts for two points.
The Nelson Giants have found the perfect way to restore some self-esteem – play an understrength Otago Nuggets basketball team and grind them into gold dust.
Mika Vukona is returning to the NZ Breakers, with the Tall Blacks star agreeing to a long-term deal that sees the Auckland franchise round out its local roster for 2010-11.
Basketball has come full circle for Nelson Giant Mika Vukona.
You could sum up Saturday's national basketball league game in the Trafalgar Centre in three letters ... WTF?
Sometimes, the play-for-pay lifestyle presents sportspeople with tough choices. PETE McNAE meets an American basketballer who happily chose Nelson.