LaMelo Ball’s inaugural and lone National Basketball League (NBL) season came to an end officially on Thursday as his manager, Jermaine Jackson, ruled him out for the rest of the season. With the NBL season ending in mid-February, Ball’s return was cutting it closer and closer to the deadline of season’s end.
However, as Jackson revealed via text to ESPN’s Jonathan Givony on Thursday, Ball was never going to be fully cleared in time to return this season.
“Melo’s foot is totally healed, but the doctor’s policy is if you’re out for six weeks, you must rehab for six weeks. He’s starting court work tomorrow.”
As Jackson says, if Ball begins working back on the court on Friday, six weeks would mean he’d be fully cleared on Feb. 21, assuming no setbacks. Illawarra’s final regular season game is on Feb. 14. Ball could likely have only returned to the Hawks if the team made a miracle run into the playoffs.
Whether Ball remains with the team to complete his rehab remains to be seen. With the timeline of the end of the season and the end of Ball’s rehab lining up nearly perfectly, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see Ball and Jackson stay in Wollongong until the end of the NBL season.
