Their new import produced a stunning performance but the Illawarra Hawks’ NBL title defence got off to a shaky start on Saturday night with a 91-86 loss to Tasmania JackJumpers at WIN Entertainment Centre.

Three-time NBA champion JaVale McGee recorded an eye-catching first appearance for the Hawks after the club raised just their second championship banner to the rafters following last season’s thrilling grand final victory over Melbourne United.

McGee, who played 983 games in the NBA, is in the veteran stage of his career but the 37-year-old centre was easily Illawarra’s top contributor.

He chalked up 32 points, 13 rebounds and three blocks while hitting 15 of his 20 field goal attempts.

Standing at seven-feet tall with nearly two decades of professional experience, McGee boasts a decorated resume featuring championships with the Golden State Warriors (2017, 2018) and Los Angeles Lakers (2020), as well as a gold medal with Team USA at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

Hawks coach Justin Tatum said his team had let down the fans who turned out en masse for the season opener.

"The effort definitely wasn't where I wanted it to be and we could have given a better effort on shutting down some of those offensive rebounds that they got," said Tatum.

"I felt that crowd deserved a better effort from us to find a way to get a win on banner drop tonight."

Hawks guard Tyler Harvey backed up McGee with 19 points and six rebounds while veteran forward Todd Blanchfield chipped in with 12.

Scores were tied at 21-21 after the first quarter before Tassie took a 49-45 lead into half-time.

The JackJimpers led by 11 after a 20-16 run in the third quarter and even though the Hawks went on an 11-0 tear early in the final term, the visitors kept their noses in front down the stretch.

Majok Deng tallied 14 points, four rebounds and two blocks with Bryce Hamilton (21 points), Tyger Campbell (17 points, four rebounds and four assists), and Josh Bannan (11 points and seven rebounds) rounding out a superb team performance.

The Hawks face a tough test to get their first win of the season when they head west to take on the Wildcats in Perth on Thursday night before hauling themselves to Auckland for a Wednesday night clash with the New Zealand Breakers.

They have racked up plenty of travel recently after playing at the FIBA Intercontinental Cup in Singapore where they finished fifth after ending the tournament with a 93-69 win over Japan’s Utsunomiya Brex

Illawarra are back at the WIN Entertainment Centre next Saturday (11 October) when they host the Brisbane Bullets.