LaMelo Ball ended his NBL (Australia’s top league) prematurely in order to heal his injury and better prepare for the upcoming NBA Draft. His now-former teammates were never told LaMelo is leaving though.
The Hawks players as well as the team owner were not informed by LaMelo that he is leaving, per the New York Post:
His teammate with the Hawks, Todd Blanchfield, told the Australian Broadcasting Corp. that he had no idea Ball had left when the network contacted him for his reaction.
“It’s news to me, but [Ball’s camp has] got an agenda they have to take care of,” Blanchfield said.
“We were teammates for half the season while he was playing, and we had our ups and downs, but it would have been good to say goodbye.”
Hawks owner Simon Stratford told NewsCorp the same thing, per ABC Australia.
“I’m really disappointed that he didn’t say goodbye to his teammates and his coach,” he said.