Hawks Win NBL Media Award

The Illawarra Hawks have won the Best Digital/Social Media award as part of the NBL Media Awards for the 2019-20 season.

Illawarra Hawks’ Digital and Social Media Manager, Ben Graham and Content Creator, Matt Adekponya have been awarded for their efforts in the digital sphere across the season for their excellence across all platforms and their weekly series ‘The Foundation Club’.

The Foundation Club series sponsored by SLAM which took fans behind the scenes in a tumultuous season for the club. The series covers all aspects of the club, from arguments, fights, personal stories and insights, milestones, but most importantly, the highs and lows of the 2019/20 season.

Each winner will receive a trophy and a $200 gift voucher courtesy of the NBL.

Other NBL Media Award Winners:

Matt Logue of the Daily Telegraph was awarded Best News Coverage for his weekly column ‘The Logue Down’. Best Feature Story was awarded to Roy Ward of The Age for his feature ‘The NBL’s Slam Dunk’ looking at the resurgence of the NBL.

Best TV Coverage was awarded to SBS News for its coverage across the NBL season. Best Radio Coverage went to SEN for its comprehensive coverage including live broadcasts of all Melbourne United and Adelaide 36ers home games and the weekly SEN NBL Show.

Best Online Show was awarded to NBL Overtime, aired on the NBL’s Twitter account and ESPN, hosted by Cam Luke, Corey Williams and Liam Santamaria. The Trash Talk Sportsbet Basketball Podcast won Best Podcast for its weekly show hosted by 2018 NBL Champions Peter Hooley and Felix von Hofe.

Best Photograph was awarded to Getty Images New Zealand based photographer Anthony Au-Yeung for his photo of NBL Next Stars LaMelo Ball and RJ Hampton during their first NBL meeting in October 2019.

The award for Most Outstanding Media Coverage will be announced at the 2020 NBL Andrew Gaze MVP Awards in Melbourne on February 16.

NBL Commissioner Jeremy Loeliger said: “We had a number of outstanding entries for this year’s awards, reflecting the high standard of coverage and growing profile of the sport.

“The media play a vital role in promoting our sport and we want to ensure the league and its players and coaches remain open and accessible so they can share their stories with the fans.

“Congratulations to all the winners and thank you to all the media who’ve covered the NBL this season. It’s been one of our biggest and best seasons ever and we’re set for an exciting last two rounds and finals series.”