Thursday it was reported by ESPN and multiple outlets, including this one, that the youngest of the Ball brothers, LaMelo, along with his manager Jermaine Jackson, had purchased the Illawarra Hawks, the NBL Melo played for this past season.
However in the words of the great Lee Corso, “not so fast my friend”, as this statement released by the Hawks , while not refuting those initial reports, it ,at the very least ,indicates there is something happening with Illawarra’s ownership status:
The NBL would like to clarify the current situation regarding LaMelo Ball and the Illawarra Hawks.
The league can confirm LaMelo Ball and his management had discussions about being involved with the club while he was playing in the NBL last season.
At this point we are continuing to work with current licence holder Simon Stratford on a number of options for what we hope will be a fruitful outcome for Illawarra and the NBL.
The NBL has final approval on any transfer of licence and no application has been made to date. The NBL has no further comment at this stage.
