LaMelo Ball has played his final game in an Illawarra Hawks jersey, Jonathan Givony of ESPN reports. Ball faces rehabilitation from a bone bruise that would stretch beyond the team’s season.
“Melo’s foot is totally healed, but the doctor’s policy is if you’re out for six weeks, you must rehab for six weeks,” Jackson clarified to Givony.
Despite the injury, Ball did wonders for his draft stock by showing what he was capable of on Australia’s professional basketball stage and is now firmly in the conversation for the top pick in the 2020 NBA Draft.
Ball averaged 17.0 points, 7.5 rebounds and 6.8 assists per game during his run with the team and won the affections of his teammates throughout his time there.
When Ball first began to gain traction as a potential top pick, Givony learned from Illawarra’s head coach that the teenage superstar was assimilating in with the rest of the roster and earning their respect.
