JackJumpers captain Clint Steindl has thrown his support behind players to publicly out trolls

With his team at the centre of shocking online trolling revelations, JackJumpers captain Clint Steindl has called for players to publicly out perpetrators, as Basketball Australia refer the incident to the eSafety Commissioner.

Australia’s eSafety Commissioner has been notified of the disgusting social media abuse directed at an NBL player’s wife, as Tasmania captain Clint Steindl encouraged players to call out perpetrators.

In the wake of Tassie coach Scott Roth’s shocking revelations an online troll had wished a “miscarriage” on the pregnant wife of one of his players, Code Sports has been told Basketball Australia’s integrity unit has flagged the incident with the eSafety Commissioner and advised the affected player to take the matter to police.

Amid a “confronting” few days, where Roth’s post-game salvo drew national attention and the NBL reported the incident to the integrity unit for investigation, Steindl said the JackJumpers had “thrown our arms” around their affected teammate and his family.

JackJumpers coach, Scott Roth revealed the shocking trolling towards his players in an emotional post match press conference. Picture: Brendon Thorne/Getty Images

“The club has been on the front foot ever since this came to light,” Steindl told Code Sports.

“(JackJumpers’ chief executive) Christine Finnegan has been in regular contact with myself and some of our players and their families, and the club has offered up those (counselling) services and resources to help through this little period that they have to navigate.

“We hope that, as the investigation goes on and the integrity unit finds out where these messages come from, hopefully we can give them (the player and their family) a little bit of peace of mind.”

Steindl said players could turn the tables on trolls by publicly naming and shaming — just as Perth star Keanu Pinder did, last week, and Adelaide’s NBA man Montrezl Harrell, earlier this season — although Code Sports has been told the overwhelming majority come from fake accounts and from overseas, often from unsuccessful gamblers.

“Guys are in a position to be able to call that out and for everyone else to see,” Steindl told Code Sports.

Keanu Pinder has been targeted this season by online trolls. Picture: Graham Denholm/Getty Images

Both Pinder and Montrezl Harrell have publicly named and shamed. Picture: Sarah Reed/Getty Images

“As much as you don’t want what’s been written there by these other profiles to be seen by everyone, we as athletes have got to stand up and call out this behaviour and be leaders in that environment.”

The league has contacted all 10 clubs to emphasise the importance of online safety, encourage players to share harm-minimisation measures with family and friends and reinforce the process of reporting abuse.

“We work with BA to educate our players, coaches and staff but we’ve refocused that training in the last couple of days and reinforced the importance of reporting (online abuse),” NBL chief executive David Stevenson said.

“We have shared a whole range of tools and guidelines with all of the clubs so they can share that with the players and their families, the tools they can use to minimise that risk.

“It’s a guide that allows players to block out key words, block numbers and limit the risk of those players or their family and friends from seeing those messages.”

Basketball Australia, the NBL and the Tasmania JackJumpers acknowledge the issues highlighted by JackJumpers coach Scott Roth in tonight’s post-game press conference.

Online abuse is a matter we are actively addressing, and player safety is paramount.

All parties are acutely…

— NBL Communications (@NBLComms) November 9, 2024

The NBL reports incidents of online abuse to BA as the sport’s governing body, charged with enforcing its national integrity framework. Anyone involved with the sport in Australia is bound by that framework. Under the framework, those found guilty of breaches could face penalties as harsh as life bans.

Acting eSafety Commissioner Kathryn King urged players to report online abuse to the social media platforms, the eSafety website and police but warned caution on calling out the abuse, due to the potential for escalation.

The eSafety Commissioner can compel online companies to remove seriously harmful content targeting Australians and threats, doxing, suspected criminal offending and ongoing, sustained abuse can be reported to police.

BA chief executive Matt Scriven said the integrity unit had been working closely with the NBL to investigate the issues raised by the JackJumpers.

The ABPA did not respond to requests for comment.

Originally published as JackJumpers captain Clint Steindl has thrown his support behind players to publicly out trolls