The Wellington Saints are a New Zealand professional men's basketball team based in Wellington. The Saints compete in the National Basketball League (NBL) and play their home games at TSB Bank Arena. For sponsorship reasons, they are known as the Mills Albert Wellington Saints.
The Wellington Saints were founded in 1981. In 1982, the Exchequer Saints won the second division title, which promoted them to the first division for the 1983 season. The Saints went on to play in six straight championship games upon joining the NBL, winning titles in 1984, 1985, 1987 and 1988. They played in their seventh final in 1991, where they lost to the Hutt Valley Lakers.
At the end of the 1996 season, both the Saints and the Lakers were struggling to survive. They amalgamated for the 1997 season, becoming TransAlta Wellington. With fans wanting a 'real' name, for the 1998 season, they became the TransAlta Wizards. For the 1999 season, they returned to the original identity of Saints.
The Saints returned to title contenders in the 2000s, winning their fifth championship in 2003 and finishing as runners-up in 2001 and 2008. In the 2010s, the Saints played in every championship game between 2010 and 2019, except 2013. They claimed back-to-back titles in 2010 and 2011, before claiming their eighth championship in 2014. With their ninth title in 2016, the Saints matched the Auckland Stars for most championships in NBL history. In 2017, the Saints made NBL history by becoming the first team to complete a perfect regular season, going 18âÂÂ0. They went on to defeat the Canterbury Rams in the semi-finals before becoming the first team to complete an unbeaten season, capping off a perfect 20âÂÂ0 campaign by beating the Southland Sharks 108âÂÂ75 in the final. Their tenth championship set a new record for most in NBL history. The Saints returned to the final in 2018, but missed the chance at their first three-peat with a 98âÂÂ96 loss to the Sharks. In 2019, the Saints completed their second undefeated regular season in three years, going 18âÂÂ0, before completing another perfect 20âÂÂ0 campaign by defeating the Hawke's Bay Hawks 78âÂÂ68 in the final to win their 11th title.
The Saints sat out the 2020 season due to the COVID-19 pandemic. They returned in 2021 and won their 12th championship.
In November 2024, the Saints unveiled a rebranded logo and identity for the 2025 season to honour their 40-year legacy. The Saints went on to earn the minor premiership in 2025 with a first-place finish and a 16âÂÂ4 record, before reaching the NBL final for the first time since 2021. In the final, the Saints defeated the Southland Sharks 88âÂÂ83 to win their 13th championship.
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The Saints began in the second-tiered Conference Basketball League (CBL), winning the CBL title in 1982. In 1997, Wellington's second division team, TransAlta Wellington, finished as runners-up in the CBL. In 2000, Wellington's second division CBL team was called Capital Punishment. In 2001, the Wellington College Saints finished as CBL runners-up. In 2008, the Saints' second division team won the CBL championship with a 90âÂÂ84 win over the Waikato Titans in the final.