LaMelo Ball is trul a Big baller in every since of the word. The potential number 1 draft pick in the NBA and his manager Jermaine Jackson recently purchased his Australian NBL team, the Illawarra Hawks, Jackson told ESPN on Thursday.
“We own the team,” Jackson said. “It’s a done deal.”
The 6-foot-7 point guard played extremely well for the team, averaging 17.0 points, 7.5 rebounds and 7.0 assists in 12 games with the Hawks. A foot injury would end his season.
Even though he did not play in college, he is automatically eligible for the 2020 draft, per NBA rules.
“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.”
Melo and his manager have a plan for this team in hopes that future draft picks will forego college and sign with the team:
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“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.”
LaVar Ball is somewhere smiling right now.
