The feud between the billionaire basketball club owner and the sport’s governing bodies has intensified, with an ambassador for Donald Trump maintaining the full report into the National Basketball League’s governance must be released.
In a letter by Crest Sports and Entertainment vice-chairman Terry Egger directed to NBL owner Larry Kestelman, Basketball Australia chairman John Carey and even state associations, and leaked to this masthead on Monday, Egger demanded more action be taken.
As reported by this masthead, Jared Novelly – the Crest Sports boss, majority owner of the Illawarra Hawks and Trump’s soon-to-be ambassador to New Zealand – and Kestelman have been at loggerheads for more than a year.
Crest accused the telco and business mogul of conflicts of interest in his running of the league and queried the distribution of revenue to the competition’s 10 clubs. But on April 13, a seven-month Basketball Australia independent investigation through its integrity unit dismissed Novelly’s formal complaint. However, the league did not release the full report led by former solicitor-general Justin Gleeson, SC.
In the letter released on Monday, Egger said: “We were of course very disappointed and dissatisfied with the final BA determinations from the Gleeson report. We also find it egregious the way those final determinations were presented to the public.”
The report, according to the press release issued by the NBL on April 13, found there was no “credible” evidence Kestelman had breached the NBL’s code of conduct. Gleeson dealt with all clubs and found no evidence they had been disadvantaged by Kestelman’s management of the league.
In the leaked letter, Crest Sports took aim at BA and the NBL.
“Imagine our surprise then when on the very same day BA released a public statement about the determinations and at nearly the exact same time LK and the NBL released multiple statements with very similar messaging,” Egger, a former publisher of the Philadelphia Inquirer, wrote.
“We are not aware of a situation whereby a sport governing body has collaborated and coordinated a public release with a respondent on the outcome of an investigation which in effect publicly clears the respondent and drags the name and reputation of a complainant through the mud publicly.
“Our concerns about BA being able to be impartial on the outcomes of the investigation and determinations were raised in the early stages of the investigation and were not theoretical.”
BA and the NBL released separate statements on April 13, which this masthead attained. Under BA’s framework, investigation details cannot be released because of confidentiality rules.
The NBL did not wish to comment on Monday. Crest Sports did not wish to comment further. BA was contacted for comment.
Novelly, whose family wealth is derived from the oil industry, also has the support of majority South East Melbourne Phoenix owner Romei Chaudhari, and Perth Wildcats owner Mark Arena.
“Crest has honored its confidentiality obligations throughout this entire process. We feel strongly, however, that the public – and especially the key stakeholders in basketball, including the State Basketball Associations, club owners and players – deserve the release of the full report,” Egger wrote.
Other club bosses around the league have privately praised Kestelman for reviving the NBL from a financial basket case into a power where clubs have multi-million dollar valuations, including Melbourne United at $50 million. But Egger says club owners have also carried a major financial load.
“While LK has long touted how much he has personally invested financially in the NBL, it is actually the club owners who have made and continue to make far greater financial investments,” Egger said.
“In the past five years alone, those owners have invested well over $250 million in paying the players, the coaches and staff; in engaging the fans and communities and activating the venues.”
Egger said BA and the NBL still had “unmanaged conflicts of interest” to shed.
On April 13, BA chair John Carey said the sport’s stakeholders “can be assured that we will work closely with the NBL to ensure the recommendations of the report are fully implemented”.
In a letter to club owners in March last year, Novelly proposed a $9 million takeover of the NBL, and the removal of Kestelman as chairman. He has also taken action through the NSW Supreme Court.
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Jon Pierik is a sports journalist at The Age. He covers AFL and has won awards for his cricket and basketball writing.Connect via X or email.
