LaMelo Ball will soon start a career playing the NBA. In the footsteps of his older brother, Lonzo, he will be the second Ball in the league.

Throughout his process, LaMelo was introduced to a coach that really had an impact on his life, and he would end up becoming his manager.

Who is Jermaine Jackson?

Jackson is a native of Detroit, Michigan, where he played his college basketball at the University of Detroit Mercy. He spent four seasons at Detroit and had success during his college career. After college, he went undrafted in 1999 and joined his hometown team, the Detroit Pistons. During his career, he spent time playing in the CBA and overseas.

Jackson played for four other NBA teams: Toronto Raptors, Atlanta Hawks, New York Knicks, and Milwaukee Bucks. He had success playing overseas. He was an Israeli Basketball Super League all-star in 2012 and won the Italian Basketball Cup in 2004 and the Ukrainian League championship in 2007.

After his playing career, he continued to stay around the game of basketball as a coach. He returned back to Michigan and was a high school coach for a few years. After spending time as a head coach at the high school level, Jackson returned to his college and served as an assistant coach. He then accepted the head coaching job at Spire Institute in Ohio.

LaMelo Ball and Jermaine Jackson at Spire

Ball and Jackson were introduced to each other at Spire. Ball wanted to return to high school to finish his senior season after playing overseas. The quest to find a school to attend was imperative for Ball, and when he was accepted to attend Spire, that created a lot of buzz throughout the high school basketball world.

Jackson knew that Ball was a talented player, and he was excited to coach him. Spire had a successful team filled with talented players, and Ball was a leader on that team. Jackson quickly developed a good relationship with the Ball family. It did not take Jackson too long to recognize the potential that Ball has, and he knew that he could have a successful NBA career. As a former player, Jackson knows what it takes to play in the NBA and serves as a great mentor for Ball. After Ball finished his senior season, Jackson continued to be around Ball and his family.

Becoming LaMelo Ball’s manager

After Ball finished his high school career, the main question was, what’s next for his career? He decided to go back overseas and play in Australia. Ball decided to join the Illawarra Hawks of the NBL. The family decided that Jackson should travel with Ball to Australia and become his manager.

Having Jackson in Australia with Ball was a big help because Jackson served as his mentor and made sure that Ball was on the right path. Now that Ball is getting ready for the NBA draft, Jackson is making sure that Ball will be in the best position possible when he hears his name called. Ball took a unique approach to get to where he is today, but he never took his focus off the end goal.