NBA prospect LaMelo Ball now owns a team in Australia’s National Basketball League (NBL). His manager Jermaine Jackson confirmed on Thursday that the two have brought Illawarra Hawks.
Ball, 18. played the 2019/20 NBL season with the Hawks winning the Rookie of the Year award. With a love on the team he played for, he made it his own.
“Melo loves the Illawarra fans,” Jackson told ESPN. “He loves that community. They opened their arms to him. They made us feel like we are at home. When we started hearing about the issues they were going through, we talked about it and decided, ‘Let’s own the team.’
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LaMelo Ball and his manager have purchased the Illawarra Hawks, his Australian NBL team, per @DraftExpress pic.twitter.com/5dvrm6voML
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) April 2, 2020
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LaMelo Ball expects more youngsters could follow his path
Ball is currently preparing himself for the 2020 NBA draft. He is one of the most exciting prospects for the upcoming season in the NBA. Jackson said that Ball wants to build a good platform for youngsters in the Australian league through his newly acquired team. Ball also expects more high school graduates to follow his footsteps.
“He is going to be locked into his NBA career, but we are going to hire the right people to oversee everything. He wants to create the best basketball program possible for that community there,” Jackson said.
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“When high school kids hear LaMelo owns the team, they will want to come. They’ll know they will be taken care of. We’re going to put the organization on steroids, building it into a program that guys want to play for. I’m in touch with several former NBA GMs that want to go there to help out and high-level coaches that won every championship you can imagine.”
LaMelo is the son of LaVar Ball, who is the founder of the Junior Basketball Association(JBA) in America. LaVar, who has professionally played football, also owns a sports apparel company Big Baller Brand.