NBL legend departs JackJumpers for new GM role

• Mika Vukona has left the Tasmania JackJumpers to start as GM of the NBL1's South West Metro Pirates
• Vukona played 476 games for the Breakers, South Dragons, Gold Coast Blaze and Brisbane Bullets
• He is a five-time NBL champion

NBL and New Zealand Tall Blacks legend Mika Vukona has departed the Tasmania JackJumpers and returned to Queensland to take the reins of a local basketball association.

The five-time NBL champion, who won four titles with the New Zealand Breakers and one with the South Dragons, has been with the JackJumpers since their inception into the league in 2021. He first started as a basketball consultant before later increasing his role to the General Manager of Basketball Operations.

Vukona was integral in establishing a culture at the JackJumpers, which ultimately led to Tasmania winning the NBL championship in 2024.

But the pull of returning to Brisbane, where his family live, proved too much for the man who played 476 NBL games as he takes over as General Manager of the South West Metro Pirates, based on the city’s southside.

“It was more a decision just to come back home,” Vukona, whose family has lived in Brisbane since he finished his playing career with the Bullets in 2020, said.

“Obviously, being away from the family, it was tough and it was something that (myself and the JackJumpers) discussed at the start of the season. So, at the end of the season, once the bulk of the free agency period was completed, then it was a decision to move forward.

“It’s hard to leave a place like the JJ’s. Obviously, when you've been part of it for a little bit, but I'm also very excited about coming here with the South West Metro Pirates.

“There’s definitely a lot of pride around what we achieved in Tasmania, there’s just great people involved in the business and running it from the coaches to the front office. I couldn't speak more highly of everybody involved with the JJ’s.”

As to why he decided to jump at the chance to lead a local junior association, Vukona said giving back to the grassroots level was always where he has wanted to be after spending so much of his life at the high-performance level.

“Then this opportunity came up and everybody from the board to the workers here have been great and I’m looking forward to it,” he said.

“Joining South West, well firstly, it was close to where I live, so compared to down in Tasmania. But the other thing is there's a lot of potential here, there’s a lot of good clubs involved.

“They've always been an organisation that you've always looked at and said ‘man, what's actually underneath the bonnet’ so to speak. They’ve always been competitive, the culture from the outside looking in, is good.

“Plus I've got a great stadium, four good courts. It was an opportunity that I said I'd love to get involved in it if I can.

“The grassroots is so important to me. After spending time at the high performance level and you sit in the coaching room, and you're listening to somebody like (JackJumpers assistant coach) Mark Radford, that's been heavily involved with this whole sector for many years, and you hear how important it is to get it right now at the grassroots level then to build everybody up to that high performance stage and to be part of that, for me was a no-brainer.

“I was lucky enough to go to the (Basketball Australia) Centre of Excellence and see those guys operate, and that's all part of the journey. If we can get it right here, like all the associations are currently doing, and be part of their journey, that's where I want to be involved.”

As is the case with every general manager of a local junior association, Vukona knows challenges are ahead but said getting coaching right at his new club was the priority.

“Before I took this position, I obviously talked to a lot of people and they all said ‘you've got to make sure that coaching is on point’ because at the end of the day, you're not putting the cart before the horse in terms of player development. Where it starts are the coaches,” he said.

“For me, I've said this across to the board, to everybody here, coaching is where I want to focus all my energy to get that right. I've been able to see firsthand what great coaches do through organisation, whether it be a start-up like the JJ's have been, or I've been part of it with Andrej (Lemanis) with the New Zealand Breakers.

“The coaching, the communication, the relationships that are built between the coaches and the players are hugely important, and what you actually invest into that. It's getting that right, and that's where I'll put all my energy into to start with.”

He also believed the Pirates were a bit of a sleeping giant in Queensland basketball.

“I think we've been a great development club for other associations. So, it'd be nice to continue that with our talent but actually keep it in-house,” Vukona said.

“What I'd love to do is to be able to grow within. So, by the time your NBL1 players are there, you've already seen them from sometimes under-12s but they start developing all the way through the QSL league.

“That's when you actually say, ‘you know what, three quarters of your roster of an NBL1 team are all homegrown’.

“I think that's always been the dream for every association. For us, it's keeping our talent here, so we have more Brock Motum's and more Cam Bairstow’s coming out of this and staying here and when they do finish, they want to come back to the place where they started.”

And don’t worry South West fans, Vukona has no intentions of using his new role as a stepping stone for another NBL gig in the future.

“I'm happy and content where I am. I love being where I am with South West,” he said.

“It takes time to make a difference. You've got to breathe it in to take it in, to actually make a difference. That's the approach I'll take when I'm here.”