Aussie JackJumpers basketball coach reveals sickening abuse of star’s pregnant wife, forcing team to take drastic action

Tasmania JackJumpers players and their families were brutally attacked online during the club’s failed NBL season, says coach Scott Roth, who wants the league to take more action.

The reigning champions came from bottom of the table with an upset 83-64 victory over leading New Zealand Breakers in Hobart on Saturday evening.

In an emotional post-match press conference, Roth revealed that weeks of social media trolling of players and their loved ones had reached an ugly crescendo in the 24 hours before the match.

“We have a lot of distraught players and family members, wives, husbands and children,” he said.

“We have been brutally attacked on social media, to the point where it is ugly.

‘We have a player whose wife is pregnant and they (people online) wished for a miscarriage.’

JackJumpers CEO Christine Finnegan said players had informed Basketball Australia’s integrity unit about the harassment.

The team disabled all comments on its social media accounts in response to the abuse.

“(The unit has) communicated that they were making this their highest priority to investigate this matter,” she said in a statement.

Tasmania’s NBL club says players and their families have been the subject of shocking online abuse in recent days

“The club has offered its unconditional support to all members of our club who feel violated by this behavior.”

Roth said he was content with criticism of his coaching, the team’s playing style or selection decisions, but personal attacks crossed the line.

“It comes from gamblers and people all over the world and general fans who feel like they can spit anything out of their mouths,” he said.

“When you start using vulgarity and you start attacking family members, children and photos on Facebook… it’s too much.

“It’s just a basketball game. It’s just entertainment. Who cares in the end?

“We’re just here to entertain and play as hard as we can. This is not life or death. It’s disgusting.’

Tasmania claimed the championship last season in just their third year in the competition, but have won just four of 12 matches so far in 2024/25.

Roth called on the league to “do more” about social media trolling and take a more proactive approach.

Scott Roth says players and their families are distraught over the abuse

“I understand, you report it, and then they try to figure it out,” he said.

“But why wouldn’t they… look at what’s going on and contact teams? It’s not just us.

‘I have relatives (of players) who say: ‘I’m afraid to go out because I’ve been threatened’.

‘The league must protect us. We’ve had three remarkable years and I’m not going to let people attack us like that burn it down.”

Roth said he told his players to “play for their families” before the win, which snapped a three-game losing streak and was led by 19 points from Jordon Crawford.

The Breakers, who were first on the table before the match, led 27-20 at the end of the first quarter but fell badly, scoring just three points in a horror third quarter.

They lost Jonah Bolden early in the game when the 28-year-old power forward limped off with a left calf issue.

Import Craig Sword had his best game of the season for Tasmania with 18 points, while fellow bench player Majok Deng also grabbed 18 and six rebounds.