The text message that inspired Hawks

A pre-season text message from Illawarra Hawks’ star Tyler Harvey to teammate and fellow All-NBL First Team member, Trey Kell III, has provided an insight into the club's championship expectation.  

Harvey, a Hawk since 2020, sent Kell III an excitable message on the pair working together to take the Hawks to the championship in NBL25, an achievement that is now well in sight ahead of the Playoffs beginning.

"When I first signed, Tyler texted me, 'excited to have you, let's go win a championship'. Honestly, the goal has been that from the jump. We're just trying to win a championship," Kell III said via the Illawarra Mercury. 

"We understand we're key parts in doing that, but honestly, we don't care who does what; as long as we got one more point than the other team at the end of the day, we're both leaving the gym happy.”

The Hawks were the clear front-runners all season under head coach Justin Tatum, and secured top spot in the regular season - a first in club history. 

One thing that has come with advancing straight to the Playoffs was a three-week break, with the Hawks having last played on February 7. 

They take on the South East Melbourne Phoenix on Friday night at 7:30pm AEDT, in Game 1 of the best-of-three Playoffs Series. The game will be broadcast live on ESPN. 

>> Read the full story here: 'Excited to have you': The text message that ignited the Hawks' historic season