{"id":303876,"date":"2026-02-26T22:46:10","date_gmt":"2026-02-26T22:46:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/303876\/"},"modified":"2026-02-26T22:46:10","modified_gmt":"2026-02-26T22:46:10","slug":"nbl-father-and-son-willie-and-alonzo-burton-pair-for-hawks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/303876\/","title":{"rendered":"NBL father and son Willie and Alonzo Burton pair for Hawks"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"hVvnDVwvKaDCbCnNag\" style=\"display:none\">Kenny, who played for the Hawks alongside both father and son, said the 1.93m wing brings versatility, leadership and proven perimeter shooting, highlighted by a 42% three-point shooting season in 2024. <\/p>\n<p class=\"hVvnDVwvKaDCbCnNag\" style=\"display:none\">\u201cI\u2019ve had the privilege of sharing the court with Alonzo and competing against him over the years, so I know exactly what he brings,\u201d Kenny said. \u201cHe\u2019s tough, he competes, and he can really shoot the basketball.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><img  alt=\"Alonzo Burton playing in Taradale as a Hawk 10 years ago. Photo \/ NZME\" class=\"article-media__image responsively-lazy\" data-test-ui=\"article-media__image\"\/>Alonzo Burton playing in Taradale as a Hawk 10 years ago. Photo \/ NZME<\/p>\n<p class=\"hVvnDVwvKaDCbCnNag\" style=\"display:none\">\u201cMore than that, he\u2019s a Hawke\u2019s Bay kid who understands what this jersey means,\u201d he said. \u201cSeeing him grow from a young player here into a proven NBL performer and now bringing him home \u2013 that\u2019s something we\u2019re really proud of as a club.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"hVvnDVwvKaDCbCnNag\" style=\"display:none\">Lopez made it clear Burton\u2019s signing is about winning, saying: \u201cAlonzo helps us win \u2013 it\u2019s that simple. He\u2019s a proven NBL scorer who can stretch the floor at a high percentage, and that changes how teams defend us.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"hVvnDVwvKaDCbCnNag\" style=\"display:none\">Burton said: \u201cComing back to Hawke\u2019s Bay means everything. This is where I grew up, where I went to school, and where I first fell in love with the game. To be able to represent this region again is something I\u2019m really proud of.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"hVvnDVwvKaDCbCnNag\" style=\"display:none\">The signing comes as the Hawks prepare to open their 2026 season at home against Tauranga side the Whai at Rodney Green Arenas, Taradale, on April 11.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Kenny, who played for the Hawks alongside both father and son, said the 1.93m wing brings versatility, leadership&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":303877,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[166447,95,166448,2209,2082,78685,166446,111,139,69,13792,22639,213,132178],"class_list":{"0":"post-303876","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sports","8":"tag-alonzo","9":"tag-and","10":"tag-burton","11":"tag-father","12":"tag-for","13":"tag-hawks","14":"tag-nbl","15":"tag-new-zealand","16":"tag-newzealand","17":"tag-nz","18":"tag-pair","19":"tag-son","20":"tag-sports","21":"tag-willie"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/303876","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=303876"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/303876\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/303877"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=303876"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=303876"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=303876"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}