Kirk Penney is back with the Burger King NZ Breakers after exhausting his options to play in the NBA and he doesn’t regret a moment of his time and effort.
Penney was given leave of absence by the Breakers to pursue his dream of returning to the NBA to add to his brief stints earlier in his career. An opportunity was extended to attend veterans camp with the San Antonio Spurs but when that was cut short and nothing else was forthcoming for the 30 year old shooting guard, he made the decision to return to the Breakers.
Clearly it has been an emotional time for the former ANBL MVP but he knows he has returned ‘home’ and is focused on doing well with the Breakers.
“Getting into the NBA was my dream, I had an awesome time with the Spurs and feel like I gave it my best shot, but it wasn’t to be. Staying on the extra week after being cut gave me the mental space to prepare to return to the Breakers and the ANBL. I’m excited to be back with the Breakers, home to the team and the club I love.”
Penney spoke at a press conference today of his ability to cope with the disappointment in missing out, more so than when he was cut previously at the age of 22 when he lacked the maturity to respond as he has done in recent weeks, including refocusing on his role with the Breakers.
Burger King Breakers Head Coach Andrej Lemanis has however resisted the temptation to rush Penney back into the roster for tomorrow night’s home game against the Melbourne Tigers.
“We have a very settled group at the moment and the guys have started well with two wins to begin the season. While it is great to have Kirk back, it will take some time for him and the group to adjust to his return. One training session simply wasn’t enough and may have caused more disruption than good.
“We are confident with that we can achieve what we want to against the Tigers and then bring Kirk into the environment from Friday, giving us 8 days to prepare for our next game on the Gold Coast.”
The Breakers continued that preparation with a final training session today at Atlas Place before their shoot around at the North Shore Events Centre tomorrow; when they will be joined by a number of CanTeener as the club promotes CanTeen's Bandana Challege. Show us your support Breakers Fans and get your badanna at tomorrow's game for $4.
