The 23-year-old teacher made his debut for the franchise in 2010.
The Nuggets had spent the previous season on the sidelines when Basketball Otago, citing financial concerns, took the drastic step of pulling the team out of the league.
The team struggled in its comeback season, losing all 18 games. It took another seven games in 2011 before they finally registered a win. The losing streak got to 33 games and stretched back to April 2008.
Buckrell was there for 24 of those losses, either during training or on the court.
James Ross had it worse, joining the team in 2008. Matt Trueman, Luke Aston and Hayden Miller are the other survivors from 2010.
How things have changed. These days, it is the Nuggets dishing out the ritual humiliation, and Buckrell is enjoying being on the other side.
''It has certainly been a big turnaround,'' he said.
''It is quite exciting to be getting some reward out of it. When we were losing all those games in a row and the season was getting a bit bleak, it was hard to get up for every game.
"Now we have something to work towards, it gives us more motivation.''
The Nuggets are at the top of the National Basketball League with 11 wins from 13 games and have already secured a place in the playoffs. It will be the first appearance in the post-season for the franchise since 1997.
Crowds of about 1000 were typical when the team was struggling in 2010 and 2011.
But people started flocking back last season when Mark Dickel signed on and this year, crowds topping 2000 are the new normal. The biggest crowd of the year was 2500.
It is a great time to be involved and Buckrell, who has been starting ahead of veteran guard Hayden Allen, has made some improvements to his game.
He had his best match for the Nuggets in the 95-66 rout of the Southland Sharks in Dunedin last month. He scored 11 points and grabbed 10 rebounds to register his first double-double in the NBL.
The two sides play again tonight but this time the fixture is in Invercargill. Buckrell believes the return match will be a lot closer.
The Sharks get great support on their home court and are on a roll, having won four consecutive games.
''They will be out to get us, especially down there in Southland,'' Buckrell said.
''We've got a bit of a rivalry going now. And every time we've been down there, there has been a big atmosphere. I'm sure it won't be any different this time.
''It will probably be even bigger now that we are looking towards the finals.''
Potentially the Nuggets and the Sharks could meet in the playoffs. The Sharks (8-3) are battling the Manawatu Jets (7-6) for the final spot. They play each other in Palmerston North next Friday and that game shapes as a pseudo-quarterfinal.
Manawatu's two other remaining matches are against easy-beats the Waikato Pistons and the Super City Rangers.
Southland has a much tougher run. The Sharks have to play the top three sides - Otago, Nelson and Wellington - as well as Manawatu. There is only one gimme and that is against Waikato in Hamilton.
The Sharks were badly out-rebounded and did not shoot as well as they could in their 29-point loss to the Nuggets. They will need to rectify both if they hope to push the form team in the competition.
Nuggets v Sharks
Invercargill, tonight 7pm
Otago Nuggets: Antoine Tisby, BJ Anthony, Akeem Wright, Riki Buckrell, Mark Dickel (captain), Hayden Allen, Brendon Polyblank, James Ross, Matt Trueman, Luke Aston, Hayden Miller, Tony Fisher.
Southland Sharks: Luke Martin, Kevin Braswell, Reuben Te Rangi, Leon Henry, Brian Conklin, Gareth Dawson, Dan Peck, James Paringatai, Paratene McLeod, Andrew Wheeler, Ethan Carruthers, Mitchell Newton.
Riki Buckrell
At a glance
Age: 23.
Job: Relief teacher.
Position: Guard.
Nuggets games: 62.
Statistics: 291 points, 131 rebounds, 37 assists, 19 steals, 7 blocks.
