In his first regular season game with the Illawarra Hawks against the Brisbane Bullets on Sunday afternoon, LaMelo Ball made history. Ball finished the night with a stat line of 12 points, 10 rebounds, five assists, four steals and no turnovers, though it came in a loss as the Roar held off a rally late.
Ball is the first person in National Basketball League history to have a double-double with five assists and no turnovers in their debut, as noted by the league’s Twitter account after the game.
Ball had both hot and cold moments in his debut. While his stat line looks impressive, he did finish the game shooting just 6-of-17 from the field and missed all five of his long-range attempts. Ball also tied Josh Boone for a team-worst plus-minus of negative-17.
Still, it was Ball and teammate Aaron Brooks that led a frantic fourth-quarter rally to pull the Hawks back into the game. Illawarra and Ball had multiple chances to take the lead in the fourth before Brisbane eventually put the game to bed with its own run in the final minutes.
It was a mixed bag for Ball in his return to professional basketball while also representing how much room there is yet to grow.
