Potential Top-3 NBA draft pick LaMelo Ball and his manager Jermaine Jackson have purchased the rights to his Australian National Basketball League team, the Illawarra Hawks, according to ESPN.
“We own the team,” Jackson said. “It's a done deal.”
Ball arrived in Australia in August as part of the league's “Next Stars” program, quickly establishing himself as one of the best talents and a potential top overall pick for the 2020 NBA Draft. He is currently ranked as the No. 2 pick on ESPN's latest mock draft.
Standing at a lean 6-foot-7, the point guard averaged 17.0 points, 7.5 rebounds and 7.0 assists in 12 games with the Hawks, including back-to-back triple-doubles before a foot injury ended his season prematurely.
The Hawks had come under some financial issues recently and due to Ball's love for Australia, he and Jackson decided to purchase the team.
“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.'
“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 spent five seasons in the NBA and moved on to play overseas in Italy, Spain, Greece, and others. He expects the next generation of American players to follow Ball's footsteps and take a chance to go pro in Australia before testing NBA waters.
“When high school kids hear LaMelo owns the team, they will want to come,” Jackson said. “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.”
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