Uncertainty on NBL Ownerships

The National Basketball League (NBL) is beset by uncertainty following the public disintegration of the Sydney Kings under the ownership of Tim Johnston and the the collapse of the proposed ownership change for the Brisbane Bullets.

Indeed, the announcement that the proposed new ownership group of the Bullets headed by David Kemp had decided not to proceed with their agreement to buy the club from current owner Eddy Groves, has led the Bullets management to release senior players from their contracts.

This led NBL Chief Executive Chuck Harmison to state âwe will work closely with Eddy and the Bullets to try to identify an appropriate new ownership structure and remain hopeful that one can be found in time for the club to continue on. Clearly there was significant interest in the club when they undertook their initial process of identifying potential owners some months ago, so we hope that the Bullets can move forward despite this setback."

The decline in the sport from its highpoint in the mid 1990s, is of huge concern to the basketball community, the NBL currently going through a review that is expected to recommend that the league reinvents itself as a boutique sport by reducing the number of teams to eight or 10 and playing a drastically shorter season.