Tai Webster will make his debut for the Otago Nuggets tonight.
His older brother, Corey, is making his maiden appearance for the Canterbury Rams.
The Webster brothers are on a crash course for the first time since Corey (34) bullied Tai (28) around the hoop in the backyard when they were younger.
Corey will have the "home" court advantage. But Tai reckons it is his time.
"This will be the first time other than in the backyard or something," he said with a broad smile.
"It is 20 years of him bullying me on the basketball court, so it is time for me to get my payback."
That was pretty much the opening salvo in the smack talk. There has not been a lot of texting back and forth or anything.
"He doesn’t like to talk but it goes unsaid, you know. We are both going to come out and do everything we can to win the game.
"He’s not a big talker. I’m definitely going to do a lot of the talking when we are on the court. But I’ll save that for when we are actually there."
The Webster brothers have different styles. Corey is a shooter, whereas Tai likes to slash to the hoop.
"I’m a bucket, bro. I’m not just a slasher. I do everything.
"I get buckets, bro. However they need to get done, I get them done."
Corey, if you are reading, Tai asked us to pass that on to you.
The brothers play together at the Perth Wildcats in the Australian Basketball League and will team up again later this year for the Tall Blacks at the World Cup.
That is the main reason Tai is back playing in the New Zealand National Basketball League for the first time since 2013.
He wants to keep match fit and hopefully win a championship with the Nuggets.
The last time the guard was in Dunedin it was for a national under-13 tournament on 2007. But he is keen to help put another banner up in the rafters.
He is also interested to see how much the league has improved.
"It has been a while since I played back in New Zealand and I’m looking forward to it.
"It seems like it is a lot different to when I was last playing in the league.
"There is a lot of young talent now in the league and I’m excited to see them coming through. Basketball is in a much better place than when I was playing back then.
"To see all the young faces and young Kiwis getting into basketball is awesome. It is just more competition and that is what I live for."
Nuggets centre Sam Timmins is unavailable for this game.
NBL
Christchurch, 7pm
Otago Nuggets: Robbie Coman, Todd Withers, Michael Harris, Tai Webster, Nikau McCullough, Darcy Knox, Matt Bardsley, Jack Andrew, Josh Aitcheson.
Canterbury Rams: Tom Webley, Max Darling, Taylor Britt, Walter Brown, Tevin Brown, Troy Baxter, Kaia Isaac, Quinn Clinton, Galin Smith, Tom Harrison.
