After two seasons in bubbles, NZ Breakers are about to begin what they hope will be the return to normality in the Australian NBL.
The Kiwi team start their campaign on Sunday against Cairns Taipans, before playing at home for the first time in 500 days next Friday.
They'll do so under a new head coach, but basketball sometimes has to take a backseat for the Mody Maor.
While he hopes he never has to coach two-year-old daughter Amaia, Maor's clinging onto every moment of family-time he can. He knows how precious it is.
Forced on the road for the past two seasons, Maor, who was an assistant under Dan Shamir, took his family with him to Australia.
"To say there was never a feeling of guilt, of putting her through it, her mum Lyat through it, would be a lie," Maor told Newshub. "There were moments when I asked myself, 'Am I doing the right thing for my family?'"
Thankfully, this ANBL season will be different, even normal. It's almost a foreign concept.
He'll be at the helm for the first time, as the Breakers finally return home, after two underwhelming campaigns, where they didn't come close to making the playoffs
"I remember what the games were in my first season here and we got kind of excited about," he continued. "The feeling that replaced it pretty quick was one of responsibility - putting a team on the floor at Spark Arena that represents the Breakers nation the right way."
No-one does so more than Tom Abercrombie, although Maor will have to make do without his captain for up to two months, after a freak eye injury.
"You don't replace a Tom Abercrombie," said Maor.
He'll have to try, but first he has other appointments - namely with his daughter.
