WENDELL HUSSEY | Cadet | CONTACT
Teen sensation LaMelo Ball has wowed the Australian basketball fraternity again this week.
The much-hyped young star who skipped American College Basketball to play for the Illawarra Hawks in the NBL has officially become the first-ever NBL player to dunk.
A slam dunk, or simply a dunk, is a type of basketball shot that is performed when a player jumps in the air, controls the ball above the horizontal plane of the rim, and slams the ball directly through the basket with one or both hands above the rim.
While extremely common in the NBA, the feat has never been performed in the NBL (Australia and New Zealand’s Basketball league), with Opal’s superstar Liz Cambage the only Australian to ever dunk in an official match.
The incredible feat that has since been shared on social media around the world like a Jorge Taufua hit compilation, occurred during the Illawarra Hawks recent victory over the New Zealand Breakers.
Speaking at the start of his shift at the Steelworks (a job required to subsidize his income) LaMelo explained to reporters that he’d skipped his now regular Chickos lunch before the game, and thinks that the lack of pollution in his body might have helped him get up.
“Was pretty crazy. Nice to put a poster on. The boss of the Hawks told me there’s a 2011 Mazda 2 with my name on it if I can slam another one,” said the excited young man.
“I guess I’m definitely going Number One in the NBA draft now.”
