Justin Tatum had two Western Australians on his mind after winning end to the Illawarra Hawks season – one who he feels has received a slap in the face and then another he is '1000 per cent' sure deserves a full NBL roster spot.

The Hawks finished their season on a positive note where despite the defending champions not reaching finals, they beat Melbourne United and the Tasmania JackJumpers by a combined 42 points with both those teams locked in the top six.

Tatum was proud how his team ended NBL26, but was far from enthused with the award nominees announced and Wani Swaka Lo Buluk wasn't on the list for Defensive Player of the Year.

Tatum can't understand why the four-time championship winner who celebrated his 200th game in the NBL this season and has built his reputation as a standout perimeter defender wasn’t nominated.

Further than that, he feels it was highly disrespectful to his charger and if it's possible for him still to be added, he wants him to be.

"One thing that does disturb me is these individual awards that the NBL gives out and one thing that concerns me is that I have if not the most competitive, best defender in the league that wasn’t nominated," Tatum said.

"Not saying or taking anything away from those nominations of the other guys, but for any competitor that goes against Wani any night, I know he's on the top of their list of people who they hate to guard them.

"Not to see Wani named on there is very disturbing and I'm not sure of the committee or whoever can add names on there, but Wani played 33 games this year, started them all and is a 50-40-90 guy, and his job is to guard the best players on every team.

"To not ever get a Best Defensive Player of the Year award or even not to get nominated this year is just probably a joke to me, and I don't get it.

"They've gotta get it right and it doesn’t matter if we're seventh or eighth ranked, these are individual awards and I feel that Wani is if not one of the best, but the best defender in this league."

With the Hawks on the way to the championship last season, Tatum felt Swaka Lo Buluk should have won the Damian Martin Trophy but at least in his eyes he was nominated.

He has no doubt that his season has been every bit as good defensively even if the team hasn’t won the same number of games.

He feels it is disrespectful he at least wasn’t nominated in NBL26.

"I don't know why he didn’t win it last year and I don't understand it, and I don't know how they judge guys or how they add the people to their awards, but this is an individual award and not a team award," Tatum said.

"If you do your homework right, if you're Bryce Cotton or Kendric Davis or Bryce Hamilton whatever the case may be, you know Wani Swaka Lo Buluk is going to guard you for however long he's out there.

"For that man to not even be nominated this year for playing every single game when he's guarding the best player on their team, it's just a slap in the face to him and his work ethic which is what his skill set is. I feel for sure he should have been nominated for that."

Then there's Johny Narkle and having seen how hard he works and how he has made the most of his minutes as a development player, Tatum has no doubt the 24-year-old deserves a roster spot in NBL27.

Narkle hit the floor in 18 games this season including finishing on a high against the JackJumpers playing a career-high 20 minutes for six points with four rebounds, an assist, a steal and a block.

Tatum wants Narkle's future to be with the Hawks too where he's built a home away from his home in Geraldton where he led the Buccaneers to two NBL1 West championships over the past three years while being Grand Final MVP on both occasions in 2023 and 2025.

"1000 per cent for sure (Narkle deserves a spot) and we've talked to him about it earlier and I feel as though he still has about a 10-plus year career in this league," Tatum said.

"I'm glad that hopefully now that he's started with us he'll be with the Hawks as long as possible, but as his confidence keeps building and as he keeps getting reps in the game and finding coaches and teammates that trust him, you've seen what he can do in the NBL1 winning a championship and as consistent and as great as he was.

"He can do the same thing in the NBL once he gets the experience and weight up under him, and just a group that believes in him. That's us, that's the Hawks."

Narkle had been knocking on the door for an NBL opportunity for a couple of seasons now with what he had been delivering in the NBL1 West with the Buccs.

Then when he led to them to the 2025 championship and was Grand Final MVP in the win against Elijah Pepper, Todd Withers, Cody Ellis and the Warwick Senators, he was impossible to ignore.

The Hawks weren’t the only club interested, but Narkle couldn’t be happier with where he's landed both because of the opportunities he's received, but with the Indigenous support he has with assistant coach Joel Khalu, and teammates Davo Hickey, Biwali Bayles and Kobe McDowell-White.

He now hopes it's just the beginning of his NBL journey.

"Obviously I already knew Joel Khalu from back in 2019 and then playing with Davo and Biwali in Indigenous Basketball, and with Kobe too, I kinda felt like I was right at home when I'm with them," Narkle said.

"Yeah, I'm feeling good and obviously the coaches have trust in me to give me the opportunity and I feel like I took it on. I'm looking forward to hopefully coming back next season.

"It's obviously good and I've got here now so I'm trying to maintain a roster spot or even try to go further in my basketball career and we'll see how we go."

Narkle is now in for a big change for the upcoming NBL1 West season having signed at the Cockburn Cougars on the back of what he's done with his hometown Buccaneers where he led Geraldton to two championships and being Grand Final MVP on both occasions.

He's already looking forward to that first game against his former team on Anzac Day when he will be back in Geraldton albeit in a Cougars uniform.

"It was a hard decision but I feel like I had to make a change and I'm looking forward to playing them in Round 5," Narkle said.

"I'm looking forward to that already."

Chris Pike

Tatum praises Johny, wants respect for Wani