LaMelo Ball About Going to Australia: “They Have a Really Strong League”

Ball brothers are always in the middle of attention. Whether is that because of their basketball skills, publicity-craving father or something else, these young guys are constantly drawing attention.

Over the past few days, the eldest among them, Lonzo was a part of a blockbusting trade between the New Orleans Pelicans and the Los Angeles Lakers, which arranged for Antony Davis to land in California.

Lonzo, on the other side, went to Big Easy and will see what happens next. After that, their father, LaVar started calling out the Lakers’ organization that they made a mistake, and as usual, tried to get as much media attention he can.

The latest news from the Ball family considers the youngest of three brothers, LaMelo. The teenager decided rather going overseas and start preparing for the NBA than to pick some of the elite colleges in the United States.

His next stop will be the Australian National Basketball League. LaMelo joined Illawarra Hawks, a team located in Wollongong, in New South Wales.

After discussing with the team’s management, the player realized that the Hawks might be the perfect place for him to continue his preparations for the NBA.

“The conversations with the team really made me feel like this is going to be a great fit,” LaMelo said. “I felt they understood my goals and have a plan for me in terms of growth and development, and I was really excited about their goals for winning.”

Ball also spoke with kind words about the NBL and the overall quality of that competition, saying that there is a lot of talent and potential.

“They have a really strong league, with excellent coaches and great players, including former and future NBA players, and great strength and conditioning programs.”

When mentioned earlier that LaMelo decided to rule out the possibility of picking a college in the USA, the situation about that has a bit more complicated background. Some of the experts are saying that the 17-year old couldn’t even play at one university because of the NCAA eligibility rules.

Some of his previous actions might have violated specific rules because LaMelo already had an agent and his own sporting brand. It is widely known that Ball brothers are already making a considerable amount of cash through marketing and that they have various sponsorship deals included in that.+

LaMelo has been a part of Vytautas in 2018, a club in Lithuania, where he played for four months. The experience of playing abroad will only come handy to him in this situation. Back then, he had to grow up much faster than other players from his generation.

“Playing overseas professionally at just 16 years old put me in a place where I had to figure things out quickly, and I think that experience will make a huge difference for me in Australia.”

The Australian NBL is growing from year to year. A vast number of Aussie players in the NBA triggered a massive increase of interest for basketball back home, and along with that, the overall quality of their domestic competitions increased.

It is no wonder anymore when US players chose Australia over Europe now. Another proof for that is RJ Hampton’s decision to pick NBL instead of college or some European team.

One of the top prospects in 2019 class, will play his last season before heading for NBA also in Australia. Hampton chose New Zeland Breakers as his destination, and all the fans are already anxiously waiting to see the clash between him and LaMelo.

The NBL has a program called “Next Stars,” which focuses on bringing and producing young talents who have the potential to play in the NBA one day. Both Hampton and LaMelo came to Australia with the help of that project. The goal of “Next Stars” is to make NBL equally attractive for youngsters as college, and to become a tempting destination for all the gifted players from around the world.