Amid speculation and reports that LaMelo Ball and manager Jermaine Jackson are closing in on a deal to take over ownership of the Illawarra Hawks, the NBL released a statement on Thursday. Rather than confirming the matter, though, the statement slowed the quick-spreading news.
“The NBL would like to clarify the current situation regarding LaMelo Ball and the Illawarra Hawks. The league can confirm LaMelo Ball and his management had discussions about being involved with the club while he was playing in the NBL last season.
“At this point we are continuing to work with current licence holder Simon Stratford on a number of options for what we hope will be a fruitful outcome for Illawarra and the NBL. The NBL has final approval on any transfer of licence and no application has been made to date. The NBL has no further comment at this stage.”
Two things can certainly be true in this scenario. The league and Jackson and Ball will certainly have a lot of legalities and details to work out before any deal can be deemed official. At the same time, the deal can also be far enough along that Ball and Jackson can consider it more or less done, as they did in an ESPN story on Thursday morning.
