The long-lasting tale of the sale of the Illawarra Hawks finally came to an end on Tuesday as the NBL announced the franchise would be sold to an ownership group featuring former Philadelphia 76ers GM Bryan Colangelo. A consortium led by LaMelo Ball was long considered the front-runner to purchase the franchise.
A statement from Colangelo was included in the league’s press release on the announcement.
“We are thrilled to be selected as new partners with the league and pledge to outperform the expectations placed on us and deliver for Hawks fans. Australian basketball with its great history has been on a significant rise for many years now and the NBL has played a significant role in growing the sport’s awareness and participation levels, while developing some of the best athlete and coaching talent the world has to offer.”
Per ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, Ball’s group and the league had “serious discussions” about the sale of the team but a deal “never materialized.” Prior to Tuesday’s announcement, the last report indicated that Ball’s group was closing in on a deal.
The saga as to whether Ball’s group would be able to buy the franchise dates back to early April when Jermaine Jackson, Ball’s manager, jumped the gun and told ESPN’s Jonathan Givony that they had completed a deal to buy the Hawks. Both sides then walked back the claims and were never able to come to an agreement on a deal after that point.
Interestingly, the new ownership group intends to remove the name Illawarra from the name of the team. The team will be known simply as the Hawks moving forward.
