The 51-year-old American, who will begin the role in early December, worked for the national body in a coaching capacity from 2004 to 2007.
He has been in Australia for the past 10 years where he worked for Basketball Queensland.
King will be based in Wellington but he is remembered fondly in Dunedin for his exploits on the basketball court.
King joined the Nuggets as an import in 1991 and went on to play 181 games for the franchise.
He is the team’s leading scorer (4599 points) and rebounder (1290) and his 467 steals is a franchise record as well.
The only key statistic King does not lead is assists — fellow Nuggets great Mark Dickel is the undisputed champion with 716.
King’s appointment comes at a time when Basketball New Zealand is branching out into the Fiba Asia Zone and addressing some ambitious goals to qualify for the Fiba World Cup, starting with the Tall Blacks’ first qualifying game against South Korea in Wellington on November 23.
"This is a once-in-a-generation opportunity for the sport in New Zealand, a golden opportunity to position itself within the Asian market and grow even stronger ties in the region," King said.
"This is also a great chance for BBNZ to create a lasting legacy of success as we embark on a focused strategy of improving our brand in a very competitive global sports market."
King’s role will focus on growing New Zealand’s pool of talent but he is also a well-respected coach, having won coach of the year honours twice in Queensland, as well as being appointed as the Emerging Boomers’ assistant coach in 2016. Basketball in New Zealand has grown significantly since King moved to Australia and he is looking forward to returning and building on that growth.
"Look, what I know about New Zealanders is that they are passionate about sport and those lucky enough to be selected are proud to represent our country.
"There is an abundance of talented players in New Zealand, and I hope to be able to take what I have learnt working in the high performance environment over the past 10 years and make a difference in helping Basketball New Zealand take the next step on the global stage."
