Jordan Ngatai left it until the last hour to register for the National Basketball League inaugural player draft.
The Tall Blacks small forward was initially unconvinced by the revamped league.
The 27-year-old had planned on skipping the six-week-long tournament but changed his mind.
"I had my own reasons why I wasn’t going to play," he said.
"I was speaking with my agent the whole time through it. The circumstances kind of changed towards the end of the deadline and we felt like it would be beneficial if we put my name forward.
"That is why it was kind of a last-minute request."
Not quite. The southpaw had about 60 minutes left on the shot clock when he got his registration in.
He was the last player to register for the draft and it forced the Otago Nuggets to reconsidered their plans.
Coach Brent Matehaere was going to select Tall Blacks point guard Jarrod Kenny with the first pick of the draft. But Ngatai’s buzzer-beater changed history.
The Nuggets drafted Ngatai and, in a stroke of luck, Kenny was still available when the Nuggets got to pick again in round two.
"Me and him were roomies all through the Tall Blacks’ World Cup. I’ve known him for ages and it will be good to see a familiar face," Ngatai said.
The pair make a good combination. Ngatai is a proven scorer and Kenny has the right game to make sure he gets the ball in his hands when he needs it.
Ngatai has helped the Wellington Saints win three titles and he has made some big contributions as a role player on some incredibly talented rosters.
But his stint with the Nuggets is an opportunity for him to take the lead and there are a lot of people excited to see what he can achieve.
There is already some talk he is an early favourite for the tournament MVP.
"I’m excited about it. It is going to be a good challenge for me. It will test me as a leader and test me as player.
"I feel like it is going to be good. Talking to Brent there is a couple of young guys who are really talented and hopefully I can help them out."
The Nuggets will assemble in Auckland on Friday and train the next day. They play the Manawatu Jets four days later, so there is not a lot of time to establish chemistry on the court.
That should build as they get deeper into the tournament. The Nuggets do not have a lot of size, so they will look to move the ball quickly and get people into gaps.
That style should suit Ngatai (1.96m). He is athletic for his size and he is a good outside shooter with a tight defensive game.
He made his debut for the Tall Blacks in 2013 and helped the team win bronze at the 2018 Commonwealth Games.
Ngatai managed to keep his fitness up during the nationwide lockdown for Covid-19. He lives in Porirua and did most of his fitness in his backyard.
There is a rugby field nearby and he also did some shooting at his old school Mana College.
He is a Porirua boy but could end up as one of Dunedin’s favourite sons, all going well.
