ESPN to Broadcast Australian NBL Games Featuring LaMelo Ball, RJ Hampton
ESPN has reached a deal with Australia's National Basketball League to televise 59 prime-time games over the next two years, the company announced Tuesday.
RJ Hampton and LaMelo Ball are among the notable players in the league after both announced their intention to play overseas earlier this year.
NBL owner and executive chairman Larry Kestelman issued a statement on the partnership:
"This broadcast agreement with ESPN is a quantum leap forward in the coverage of the NBL and basketball across Australia.
"It maintains our commitment to make the game available to more people to watch when and how they choose across different platforms and will continue to grow our audience across Australia. Partnering with ESPN, the home of the NBA in Australia, brings more global credibility to the NBL as we attract bigger stars to what is now considered one of the best leagues in the world outside of the NBA."
The NBL has generated buzz in the United States recently with the additions of Ball and Hampton.
247Sports rated Hampton a 5-star recruit and the No. 5 prospect in the class of 2019. Though Bill Self and the Kansas Jayhawks were among those interested in his services, the 6'5", 185-pound guard decided playing overseas would be the best path.
Hampton said of his decision in May:
"My dream has never been to play college basketball. My dream has always been to get to the next level and to play in the NBA. I think the best route for me is to live like a pro and play with grown men everyday, and not have to juggle books and basketball and just focus on my main goal."
Meanwhile, it will mark just the latest overseas adventure for Ball, a 6'7", 5-star point guard. LaMelo and LiAngelo Ball—the younger brothers of New Orleans Pelicans point guard Lonzo Ball—previously played for Lithuanian club BC Vytautas in 2018.
The 17-year-old Ball said on ESPN's The Jump last month that he made the decision to put himself in the best position to go No. 1 overall in the 2020 NBA draft:
Hampton will suit up for the New Zealand Breakers, while Ball will play for the Illawarra Hawks.
The 2019-20 NBL season tips off Oct. 3.
