This is now a matter of good faith.
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The new not-the-Illawarra Hawks owners can attack the Mercury for the 'Put It Back' campaign all they want.
It's about so much more than selling newspapers.
It's the tears which flowed winning the 2001 title in Townsville, it's Damon Lowery's free throws.
It's the desperate struggle, the rounds of voluntary administration.
It's the numbers worn by Gordie McLeod, Chuck Harmison, Mat Campbell, Glen Saville and Melvin Thomas hanging in the rafters.
The sweaty Snakepit nights, the heady WIN Entertainment Centre lights when the Hawks marched into grand final series against Perth.
And you can argue the Hawks have had their chance to make Wollongong a success over and again - and failed.
The curtain being pulled at one end of the stadium to increase the atmosphere is a most recent evidence of how tough the Hawks have it.
But then the NBL lured potential No.1 draft pick LaMelo Ball to the club through the Next Stars program and as a result built an international profile.
Despite a 5-23 season where they finished last, the Hawks finished second overall on the ladder of corporate and financial metrics last season, only behind powerhouse and eventual champions Perth, largely because of the LaMelo effect.
And then at the end of it all, it's not enough to keep the Illawarra name? It's not enough to have LaMelo's profile in the ownership group backed by Illawarra businessman Tory Lavalle?
Instead, the NBL dictated they wanted the Illawarra name dumped from the club to expand their footprint.
As if it would be a pathway never before trodden to wealth and success.
But here's the rub.
The ACT Government has stated it has little interest in funding future games, Newcastle won't be able to do so until the new stadium is finished at the end of next year.
Darwin is now increasingly unlikely as an option, despite the Northern Territory coming through the COVID-19 crisis relatively unscathed and the first to open state borders.
So the narrative is, let's dump the Illawarra name to broaden the club and the league's horizons.
But if they're taking games away from the Illawarra, who's paying for it?
How is it a financial incentive? How will it work?
The Illawarra are the small market battlers, like Cairns, a regional team in an increasingly professional market with appeal in the US and the NBA.
But if LaMelo was good enough for the Illawarra, despite this controversial exit in January, why isn't LaMelo as an owner good enough for the NBL? The Mercury understands Lavalle, who declined to comment when contacted, was reluctant to dump the Illawarra name.
In negotiations, the Mercury has been told Lavalle only wanted to take games away, let alone camps or other community engagements, from Wollongong if it was of financial benefit to the Hawks. Lavalle wanted to make Illawarra great again.
Which is a key point, because in the past, when Indian mining magnate Arun Jagatramka came to the rescue during the 'Save The Hawks' campaign in 2009, or when communications millionaire James Spenceley took over, they were the only option left.
This time was different.
Lavalle, with Ball's manager Jemaine Jackson involved, had a plan and the financial backing - and the NBL rejected it.
As a result, the ownership was given to a hastily co-ordinated consortium of former Sydney Kings part-owner Dorry Kordahi and the controversial ex-Philadelphia 76ers general manager Bryan Colangelo, of Twitter burner account fame.
So the NBL and the new owners might be frustrated at the Mercury's 'Put It Back' campaign, demanding the reinstatement of the Illawarra name.
But this is our town and our team, through hardship and success - and we're willing to share it with the rest of NSW and even interstate - but it's still ours.
If it's so important to maintain the connection with the region, as front man Kordahi and NBL owner Larry Kestelman have stated, then you'll keep the name.
And you'll celebrate it.
