{"id":771613,"date":"2026-07-01T07:34:17","date_gmt":"2026-07-01T07:34:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/771613\/"},"modified":"2026-07-01T07:34:17","modified_gmt":"2026-07-01T07:34:17","slug":"nbl-vs-illawarra-hawks-legal-battle-basketball-league-launches-legal-action-against-club-in-international-sports-court","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/771613\/","title":{"rendered":"NBL vs Illawarra Hawks legal battle: Basketball league launches legal action against club in international sports court"},"content":{"rendered":"

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The feud between Australia\u2019s billionaire basketball barons has escalated all the way to the international Court of Arbitration for Sport as the NBL launches legal action against one of its clubs.<\/p>\n

In a letter sent to all clubs on Wednesday, seen by this masthead, the NBL announced it had taken legal action against the Illawarra Hawks after \u201ca sustained pattern of conduct which gives rise to serious concerns\u201d.<\/p>\n

\"AmericanAmerican billionaire Jared Novelly is once again mired in sports politics in his first week as US ambassador to New Zealand.Dylan Coker<\/p>\n

It represents a counterpunch from NBL owner Larry Kestelman after a series of jabs from Jared Novelly \u2013 the American majority owner of the Hawks, who this week is due to take up his posting as Donald Trump\u2019s ambassador to New Zealand, Niue, Samoa and the Cook Islands.<\/p>\n

Novelly wrote his own letter to club owners last year proposing a takeover of the NBL<\/a>, and the removal of Kestelman as chairman.<\/p>\n

He has also taken action through the NSW Supreme Court, and his company Crest Sports and Entertainment filed a formal complaint about Kestelman with Basketball Australia<\/a>, querying the distribution of revenue to clubs and accusing the NBL owner of self-dealing and conflicts of interest.<\/p>\n

Related Article\"The<\/a><\/p>\n

Kestelman, the Ukrainian-Australian billionaire who co-founded internet service provider Dodo, took over the NBL in 2015. He has overseen a revitalisation of the once embattled league, which welcomed a record 1.2 million fans to games in the 2025-26 season.<\/p>\n

However, Novelly and his associates have raised concerns around how the league has been run under Kestelman, including the signing of partnerships with brands Kestelman owned equity in, and the relocation of NBL headquarters to a building owned by his property group.<\/p>\n

The American is not alone in his dissent. Fellow billionaire club owners Romie Chaudhari of South East Melbourne Phoenix and Mark Arena of Perth Wildcats have both spoken out against the league, regularly airing complaints. Chaudhari called out reporters via social media in May for pushing the narrative of \u201cJared vs Larry\u201d, saying the conflict was \u201cmuch bigger than that, with a lot more players other than Jared involved on the clubs\u2019 ownership side of this rift\u201d.<\/p>\n

Basketball Australia ultimately dismissed the complaint against Kestelman after a seven-month independent investigation, which found no \u201ccredible\u201d evidence he had breached the NBL\u2019s code of conduct. Kestelman described this as a vindication and at the time said he was hopeful of moving on from the matter.<\/p>\n

However, Novelly has continued to push for the full report to be released, and now Kestelman has taken the front foot.<\/p>\n

\"NBLNBL chairman Larry Kestelman has come under fire from the Hawks and other clubs.Eamon Gallagher<\/p>\n

The club has been served legal papers and the matter will be heard in the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Switzerland.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have exhausted every available avenue to resolve this situation and avoid this action but we have no other choice,\u201d NBL chief executive officer David Stevenson explained in his letter.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis action is being taken to protect the integrity of the NBL, the interests of every club, and the value we have collectively built in both the league and the clubs. Each of your club valuations, as well as the league valuation, have been important considerations in our deliberations.\u201d<\/p>\n

Stevenson assured clubs that the NBL remained focused on continuing to grow itself, its clubs, partners and stakeholders \u201cfor the benefit of everyone involved\u201d, noting the recent season to be one of the most successful in its history in terms of attendance and broadcast ratings.<\/p>\n

\"RivalRival NBL club owners Romie Chaudhari (South East Melbourne Phoenix) and Mark Arena (Perth Wildcats) posted matching statements on X.X<\/p>\n

As legal proceedings get underway, Novelly may be temporarily compelled to hold his tongue, however Chaudhari and Arena have signalled their intent to continue agitating. The same day the NBL sent its letter to all clubs, both men put up identical social media posts criticising recent talks by the NBL around potentially expanding the league.<\/p>\n

\u201cRespectfully, I\u2019m against expansion of the NBL at this time. I want us to keep building the league\u2019s long-term strength together and get the timing right, so every club and every fan benefits for the long haul \u2013 not just for a season,\u201d they posted, both signing off with a basketball emoji.<\/p>\n

Related Article\"Australian<\/a><\/p>\n

The NBL and Phoenix declined to comment.<\/p>\n

This masthead contacted the Hawks and Wildcats for comment.<\/p>\n

News, results and expert analysis from the weekend of sport are sent every Monday. Sign up for our Sport newsletter<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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\"BridgetBridget McArthur<\/a> is a sports affairs reporter at The Age, covering the intersection of sports and politics\/business\/economy\/society.Connect via X<\/a> or email<\/a>.From our partners<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Save You have reached your maximum number of saved items. Remove items from your saved list to add…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":771614,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[574],"tags":[64,63,726,85],"class_list":["post-771613","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-basketball","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-basketball","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/771613","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=771613"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/771613\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/771614"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=771613"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=771613"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=771613"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}