Basketball Australia has finally released findings from a secret report into the governance of the National Basketball League, conceding that billionaire owner Larry Kestelman made “mistakes” and giving him a year to make changes and rebuild trust.
Kestelman and the running of the NBL were the subject of a seven-month investigation prompted by a complaint from Crest Sports and Entertainment, the owner of the Illawarra Hawks, and supported by Perth Wildcats and South East Melbourne Phoenix.
The three clubs questioned governance and financial matters, established an independent Professional Basketball Club Owners Association, forced mediation over travel and flight costs (the two parties are still no closer to a resolution) and took their case to world governing body FIBA.
Crest, led by billionaire Jared Novelly, who is now Donald Trump’s ambassador to New Zealand, has also taken legal action against Kestelman and the league.
The investigation was concluded by April, when only a few details were shared, namely confirmation that Kestelman had no case to answer.
Kestelman and the NBL felt they were exonerated, and said the majority owners – but not all minority owners – of the remaining seven clubs backed league bosses. The NBL also took its case against Crest to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
This masthead has unsuccessfully sought the release of the full report from the NBL, BA, and government and sports integrity bosses.
However, on Wednesday BA acknowledged in a statement to this masthead “that the distinction between the overall decision and the broader findings of the report should have been made clearer”.
“Crest’s complaint raised extremely serious and broad-ranging allegations, that Mr Kestelman had demonstrated himself to be a ‘bad faith actor’ over the course of a decade,” Basketball Australia said.
“In the round, Crest’s complaint is not a credible report supported by sufficient prima facie evidence to refer it as a whole to a disciplinary tribunal formed under the integrity framework. Mr Kestelman does not present on the totality of the evidence gathered in the course of the investigation, as a ‘bad faith actor’.
“Mr Kestelman himself has invested an enormous amount of his own time and money, over a decade, in bringing the National Basketball League, its clubs and the game of basketball in Australia back from the brink of financial ruin and collapse, such that they are, in general, prospering and valuable.”
Kestelman, who famously co-founded the telecommunications and internet service provider Dodo Services, bought the ailing NBL in 2015 and has revived it to such a degree that the league is now among the best in the world, attracting former NBA players and young stars on their way to the US.
But BA, which has a commercial relationship with the NBL, added that “Mr Kestelman has, in the course of those endeavours, made mistakes, which in the main can be attributed to his drive to turn the fortunes of the National Basketball League around, where in the course of doing so Mr Kestelman has failed to pay sufficient attention to the interests of the National Basketball League where those interests differ from those of his private interests”.
The NBL was contacted for comment.
The Wildcats, Hawks and Phoenix have all raised issues about the blurring of lines between Kestelman’s basketball and private dealings, including the premises used for the sport’s head office in Melbourne.
“There are a number of specific areas where those failings, if one were to focus solely on the past, might possibly have found disciplinary charge under the Integrity Framework,” the report said.
“Once due account is given to matters including the processes for remediation either underway or complete as at the time of reporting in December 2025, there is a case for preferring no charges being laid at this point in time, pending Mr Kestelman being afforded a period of one year, to complete the processes of remediation.”
The report said clubs needed to “rebuild the trust and confidence in Mr Kestelman and the National Basketball League, given the corresponding importance to the health of the basketball ecosystem”.
BA said if Kestelman’s changes were not enacted within a year, the integrity unit could again investigate, but change is already “progressing well”.
One significant change by the NBL was adding Professor Graeme Samuel, a governance and leadership expert and former AFL commissioner, to the board this year.
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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.From our partners
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