Once something that was declared a done deal, LaMelo Ball’s purchase of the Illawarra Hawks is facing its most doubt yet.
On Wednesday, the Illawarra Mercury reported that the league was shifting its focus away from the LaMelo Ball-led consortium to other groups, seemingly ending his pursuit of owning the franchise.
This move comes after more and more information has been revealed about the state of the franchise in past days and weeks. Most recently, the state of the franchise’s finances was revealed, painting a particularly grim picture for the future.
While former teammate Aaron Brooks was in support of Ball’s purchase of the team, he was not met with unanimous support. Former NBL commissioner Rick Burton offered some warnings to Ball about buying the franchise while Hawks legend Glen Saville was against the idea.
At one point, the purchase was considered a done deal by Ball’s manager Jermaine Jackson as he told Jonathan Givony the transaction was complete. But Jackson, Ball and the NBL all had to quickly walk back the reports as part of what was deemed a miscommunication. Since then, the possibility of a deal has only grown less and less likely.
Ball spent the season on the court with the Hawks, playing 12 games before suffering a season-ending injury. During his dozen games, Ball averaged 17.0 points, 7.6 rebounds and 6.8 assists.
