NBL: LaMelo Ball the star attraction but Phoenix down Hawks
Mitch Creek and John Roberson put on a clinic to help South East Melbourne Phoenix make NBL history, but most of the more than 10,000 fans who packed Melbourne Arena were there to see one man.
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There is nothing Hollywood about LaMelo Ball — aside from the pair of shiny Ferrari-red headphones the 18 year-old NBA draft prospect rocked during Saturday night’s shootaround ahead of his Illawarra Hawks’ clash with still-undefeated South East Melbourne Phoenix.
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Ball doesn’t run the floor, he glides over it.
And, when things didn’t go to plan, like a missed three-point attempt late in the game, the 18 year-old hustled and cleaned up, with a rebound and easy put back under the rim.
Ball’s first visit to Melbourne in a playing capacity resulted in the biggest non-Melbourne United crowd since 2000.
It is also the first time the Illawarra Hawks have played in front of more than 10,000 people in Melbourne.
Boomer Mitch Creek (23 points, 6 rebounds, 5 assists) and sharpshooter John Roberson (26 points and 10 rebounds) weren’t ultra impressive in the 106-102 win that made Phoenix the first team expansion team in NBL history to start their inaugural season 3-0.
But the majority of the 10,098 hoops fans who packed Melbourne Arena to the rafters were there to see one man.
Australian NBA legend Andrew Bogut pulled crowds last year, but the Sydney Kings giant has nothing on the burgeoning Ball phenomenon.
Teenagers, on Saturday night rode everything Ball did, and rose from their seats as the silken guard flicked the Wilson around the court.
For Ball, this is life.
It is work, it is … basketball.
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JERMAINE JACKSON
Let’s make one thing clear, Jermaine Jackson, an ex-NBA journeyman who also bounced through Europe during a 12-year professional career, isn’t Ball’s “chaperone”.
Is he a mentor? Maybe.
“Family” is closest to the mark for Jackson — the other half of the “Two-man game”, a title he and Ball use to describe the relationship.
“I’m not chaperone, I had to correct the other guy from saying that s**t,” Jackson said.
“It’s not chaperone, me and him, we’re family, we’re family.”
Ball lives with Jackson, who helps out in practice and watches games like a hawk from behind the bench.
The interest in the 2020 NBA draft sensation is heard, understood but most importantly respected.
Fans hoot and holler each time Ball goes near the basketball.
“It’s like, he’s the basketball Michael Jackson, what you expect?”, Jackson asked.
“It’s an honour for people to come out and watch him.
“These people (fans) work nine-to-five (jobs), they work hard for their money and they’re spending their money to come watch entertainment.
“I tell Melo all the time, you never know how far people are coming from to watch you play so you always want to go out and perform, so that’s what he does.”
THE RECRUIT
The questions came thick and fast from “some kids back home” as news filtered out New York State export and Phoenix recruit Jaye Crockett would be leaving his team in Lebanon to play in the NBL.
‘Are you going to play against him?’
The ‘him’ was Ball, a “worldly figure”, Crockett says.
How would Crockett handle the hype?
“I'm glad I’m in Jaye Crockett’s shoes, that’s for sure,” Crockett said.
“I think whenever that hype gets on you, it follows you around, just depends on the personality, how you handle it, it can either make you or break you.”
THE COACH
Illawarra Hawks coach Matt Flinn is getting used to dealing with all the attention Ball brings.
“No question there is a lot of attention on our team, the great thing about living in Wollongong is people in Wollongong embrace it for the first few weeks and then it’s just LaMelo,” Flinn said.
“They’re part of the furniture now, we’ve got a very unique way with our club to keep people grounded and I think that’s part of the charm.
“He’s just a joy to be around, he loves the game, his enthusiasm for the game is infectious.
“He Balls out and genuinely his first and last love is basketball.”
THE TEAMMATE
Young big man Sam Froling, who had 10 points and 6 rebounds, said Ball was just like any other kid.
“It’s interesting kind of seeing his style of life compared to what we grew up with, he’s just a normal kid, he’s like us, he comes and hangs out with us.
“It’s interesting when you observe other people’s behaviour around him, it’s good fun.”
SOUTH EAST MELBOURNE 106 (J Roberson 26 M Creek 23 B Madgen 14) ILLAWARRA HAWKS 102 (A Brooks 26 T Coenraad 16 T Blanchfield 15) at Melbourne Arena
Originally published as NBL: LaMelo Ball the star attraction but Phoenix down Hawks