Hornets owner Michael Jordan has been impressed with the 2020 No. 3 overall pick.
LaMelo Ball, drafted No. 3 overall in 2020, has shown flashes of providing Charlotte with a foundational piece.
Rookie LaMelo Ball has seized the attention of the NBA this season with his highlight reel passes and a surprising ability to score, including Charlotte Hornets owner Michael Jordan.
The six-time NBA champion said when the Hornets selected Ball with the No. 3 overall pick they hoped the crafty 6-foot-6 point guard would eventually rise to the level of becoming an All-Star.
Jordan likes the way Ball is trending.
“I think Melo has adjusted to the NBA game better than any of us ever thought this early in his career,” Jordan told The Associated Press in an email. “He has exceeded our expectations so far this season.”
Ball leads all rookies in most statistical categories, including points (15.8), assists (6.3), rebounds (6) and steals (1.6) per game.
More importantly, Ball’s game — which includes an array of slick, needle-threading passes — has brought some needed pizzazz and star potential to a franchise mired in obscurity for years. The Hornets are 17-18 entering the All-Star break, just a game behind the fourth place Boston Celtics in the ultra-tight Eastern Conference.
“He’s the real deal,” Jazz guard Donovan Mitchell said.
Warriors forward Draymond Green recently tweeted “LaMelo is a problem!”
“Right now, with the way things look, he looks like NBA rookie of the year to me,” Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle said. “He’s getting it done statistically, their team is winning. He’s got energy, he’s got a vibe, he’s got swagger. If you like watching players that play with flair, he’s right up there.”
Ball, who grew up watching Penny Hardaway and Jamal Crawford highlights, sees things on the court most players don’t.
He regularly delivers on-time behind-the-back passes leading to transition layups, kick-outs for open 3-pointers and alley-oop lobs for dunks off the pick-and-roll, many of those going to high-flying Miles Bridges, earning the duo the nickname “AirBnB.”
Ball’s impact with the Hornets was almost immediate, becoming the youngest player in NBA history to record a triple-double in just his 10th NBA game. Still, it took 20 games before Hornets coach James Borrego inserted him into the starting lineup following an injury to Devonte Graham.
It’s unlikely Ball is giving up the position anytime soon.
The 19-year-old has only elevated his game in 15 starts, averaging 20.6 points, 6.6 assists and 6.2 rebounds and has already won NBA rookie of the month twice.
“Me being me, I’m never going to say putting me on the bench was something smart or good to do,” Ball said. “It always feels like when I’m on the court I’m helping. … But I think one of the reasons is because we didn’t have no summer league, so he probably wanted to ease me into it.”
Said Borrego: “His growth, his fearlessness, his ability to bounce back even when things don’t go his way on one end of the floor … he’s a special kid.”
Before the NBA draft three where were concerns about Ball’s unorthodox shooting form with a lower release point than most. He’s proven doubters wrong by finding ways to create his own shot while making 37.8% from beyond the arc.
Ball said coaches have tried to change his shooting form just about everywhere he’s been, but he’s steadfastly resisted.
“I always said, ‘This is how I shoot,’” Ball said. “I’m confident in it. I feel good letting it go. Even coming here (to the Hornets), they low-key tried to adjust it a little but I said, ‘No, this is how I shoot’ and I just stuck with it.”
“I think people wondered at the beginning: was he a good enough shooter?” Hornets general manager Mitch Kupchak said. “I don’t think that’s a concern.”
That ability to shoot has forced teams to defend Ball behind the arc, making it easier for him to penetrate and score or dish.
“Man, he’s good,” Mitchell said. “I’m not going to lie, I’m very impressed with his playmaking ability, his competitiveness, but his joy. … He’s very talented; he can do many different things.”
Ball said he wants to add some muscle to frame and Jordan added “we believe that he will continue to work and get better as a player.”
Ball’s long-term NBA goal is simple, if not lofty: he wants to be a Hall of Famer like Jordan.
Nothing would please Jordan more.
The Hornets haven’t been to the playoffs since 2016 and haven’t won a playoff series in 19 years.
They’ve lacked star power.
Ball, with 5.7 million Instagram followers, brings national attention. And his unselfish, pass-friendly approach could make the Hornets an attractive destination for future free agents, thus making Charlotte more competitive.
Like most rookies, Ball needs to continue improve on the defensive end of the court for the Hornets to achieve the consistent success.
“Our goal is to build a consistent winner and have free agents look at our program, just like Gordon (Hayward) did this offseason,” Jordan said. “It’s not just about Melo. It’s about our group of young, talented players, our coaching staff and our entire Hornets organization. All of those factors, along with Charlotte being a great city, will make us become a destination.“
Four months ago, Ball was drafted third overall by the Charlotte Hornets, who already had two starting-quality point guards on their roster. Two months ago, he failed to score in his NBA debut.
Through it all, Ball was seen as a player with quite possibly the highest ceiling in this year’s rookie class. Still, no one could have predicted what happened next.
As the NBA enters the All-Star break, Ball isn’t just the top player in this year’s rookie class; he’s one of the most exciting rookies in recent memory. He’s made the previously moribund Hornets a legitimately fun team to watch. And he’s managed to shatter the expectations of the NBA legend that drafted him.
“I think Melo has adjusted to the NBA game better than any of us ever thought this early in his career,” Jordan told The Associated Press in an email. “He has exceeded our expectations so far this season.”
Immediately after drafting Ball, Jordan was reported to be a “big fan” of the player.
Through his first 35 games, Ball is averaging 15.8 points, 6.3 assists, 6.0 rebounds and 1.6 steals per game despite coming off the bench in the majority of games. Each of those marks are best among NBA rookies this year, and he’s also shooting 44.9% from the field and 37.8% from deep.
Even more surprisingly, Ball has been a quality defender as a 19-year-old. He leads the Hornets in defensive box plus/minus according to Basketball Reference, using his size and basketball IQ to pester offenses.
And he does stuff like this:
LaMelo’s taken his game to new heights since becoming a starter
20.1 PPG
6.7 APG
6.2 RPG
1.7 SPG
Obviously, Ball still has plenty more growing to do before he can help make the Hornets an actual contender, but it’s so far, so good for a player that many expected to take a while to even reach “good.”
New Orleans Pelicans: Lonzo Ball could be the best 3-and-D player in NBA
Lonzo Ball was asked to take on a new role for the New Orleans Pelicans and has so far made the most of it.
A lot has been made of Lonzo Ball playing more off the ball this season, and some of his most ardent fans are not happy about it, as they think Lonzo’s skills are being wasted on such a role.
He came into the league as a pass-first point guard, a guy whose size and slick passing drew early comparisons to Magic Johnson.
I doubt anyone, including Lonzo Ball himself, could have seen this coming.
Lonzo has transformed into a playmaking hybrid who can defend and shoot, or as some like to call it, a 3-and-D wing. I don’t view Lonzo as a traditional wing, as he is still an amazing passer who is averaging 5.2 assists per game.
If Lonzo is to be judged vs. “wings” then he would be 4th in the NBA in assists from that position.
The truth is that he is a hybrid 3-and-D player who can do a lot of different things, but what is really setting him apart is his 3-point shooting, which has gone from “awful” to “elite.”
New Orleans Pelicans: Lonzo Ball’s 3-point shooting
Lonzo Ball is currently shooting 43.3 percent on 7.7 attempts from the 3-point line, numbers that place him among the best 3-point shooters in the NBA.
In fact, there are only seven players in the entire league who average at least seven attempts and shoot over 41 percent from behind the arc.
If you look more closely, only one of them, Paul George, could be considered a good defender, so Lonzo Ball has an argument that he is the second-best 3-and-D player in the entire NBA.
Considering Lonzo is only 23-years-old, there is a good chance he will be the best 3-and-D player in the NBA at some point in his career if he maintains this level of shooting and keeps improving on the defensive end.
This makes him the perfect type of player to put around Zion Williamson, and the Pels need more of these guys, which is why trading Lonzo Ball before the deadline would be crazy unless there was a proven elite wing defender coming back in return.
The New Orleans Pelicans appear to have the third piece of their Big 3 and should be looking for players who complement them.
Lonzo Ball is a unique player who is hard to categorize because he does just about everything well and as long as he keeps up the shooting, he will continue to be one of the best 3-and-D players in the league whether you want to call him a point guard or a wing.
Lonzo and LaMelo Ball
Lonzo and LaMelo Ball have the knack for a show-stopping pass and the pair each did so on Monday night. With Lonzo’s Pelicans and LaMelo’s Hornets playing in back-to-back games on NBA TV, the two were on the national showcase and shined out for their respective teams.
Lonzo started the night off in New Orleans against the league-leading Utah Jazz. Along with Zion Williamson and Brandon Ingram, Ball helped the Pelicans pull off their biggest victory of the season.
During the win, Ball and Williamson broke out their long-distance alley-oop for one of the few times this season as Ball tossed a casual 60-foot pass to Williamson that cleared all five Jazz players.
Not to be outdone by his brother, LaMelo took the court in the nightcap and pulled off possibly an even more impressive pass. During the first quarter, after saving the ball on the Blazers side of the court, Ball raced downcourt before dropping a pass with a wicked spin to set up Terry Rozier for a reverse layup.
While Lonzo and the Pelicans earned a win, LaMelo and the Hornets fell on the road to the Trail Blazers.
LaMelo finished with 30 points, eight assists, six rebounds and four steals in the loss, becoming the youngest player in NBA history to achieve that stat line. Lonzo, meanwhile, continued his hot shooting from deep, finishing with 23 points, eight assists and seven steals.
There is a young tandem setting the NBA on fire – the members of that tandem just so happen to play for different teams.
Lonzo Ball of the New Orleans Pelicans and LaMelo Ball of the Charlotte Hornets are brothers, of course, and a high-profile set of brothers at that. But with their play of late, they have warranted all of the attention they’ve received.
The Balls are the first pair of brothers to each be selected in the top three picks of the NBA Draft, with Lonzo drafted No. 2 by the Los Angeles Lakers in 2017 and LaMelo selected No. 3 by the Hornets in 2020. With each currently manning the starting point guard position for his respective franchise, they are making good on the promise of their lofty draft selections.
Coming off an impressive February, it seems the brothers are hitting their strides at the same time.
This season, LaMelo Ball has been impressive, averaging 15.7 points, 6.0 rebounds and 6.4 assists while guiding the Hornets to a 16-18 record, good for eighth in the Eastern Conference as of Tuesday.
Keep in mind, the Hornets haven’t made the playoffs since the 2015-16 season, and haven’t won a playoff series since the 2001-02 season.
Those numbers are gaudy enough for a player with only 33 career games under his belt, but they have been even more impressive since Ball became the Hornets’ starting point guard at the start of February.He became the third teenager in NBA history to average 20 points, six rebounds and six assists in a month. The other two? Lakers forward LeBron James and Dallas Mavericks wunderkind Luka Doncic.
Ball is also on pace to become the second player in the past 40 years to lead all rookies in points, rebounds and assists. The first? Orlando Magic guard Michael Carter-Williams, who did so in 2013-14 in his rookie campaign with the Philadelphia 76ers.
LaMelo added to his resume by scoring 30 points on Monday against the Portland Trail Blazers, the second 30-point performance of his career.
Ball’s statistical dominance, combined with his leading his team to victories, has FOX Sports NBA insider Chris Broussard proclaiming big things in the future, as he detailed on “First Things First.”
“Nobody thought he could shoot when he entered the league. Props to Michael Jordan and the Charlotte Hornets for bringing him along slowly. They put him on the bench to start the season, made him earn his starting job. Now he has. This guy is a future star.”
And on Tuesday, Skip Bayless continued the praise on “Undisputed,” saying that LaMelo seems to just be having fun on the floor.
As for LaMelo’s older brother, the start to his career wasn’t as smooth.
Lonzo Ball averaged just 10.2 points per game while shooting 36% from the field as a rookie with the Lakers. He also battled injuries in his first two seasons.
Since being sent to the Pelicans in the summer of 2019 as part of the Anthony Davis trade, however, Ball has started to come into his own as a starting point guard. So far this season, he is posting career highs in scoring (14.8), field-goal percentage (43.3), 3-point percentage (39.7) and free-throw percentage (77.5).In February, Ball averaged 16.5 points per game while shooting 45.4% from the field, 45.9% from 3-point range and 84.6% from the free-throw line. He has played in 30 of 33 games this season.
That is a far cry from the player Ball was his first two seasons when he missed 65 games and struggled to find consistency on the court, as Christian Clark of Nola.com detailed:
“He has a chance to be a 40% 3-point shooter after knocking down threes at a 31.5% rate in two seasons with the Lakers. He’s cut down on his turnovers significantly since he returned to the lineup in January.
“He’s also making incremental progress attacking the basket. He has attempted 25 free throws in February, the most of any month in his career. His free-throw percentage has climbed to 75.7%.”
The Ball brothers both seem intent on making statements to the rest of the NBA this season.
So far, those statements have been pretty loud.
WHO IS LA MELO BALL
LaMelo LaFrance Ball (born August 22, 2001) is an American professional basketball player for the Charlotte Hornets of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He was selected by the Hornets with the third overall pick of the 2020 NBA draft.
|
Year
|
Team
|
GP
|
Min
|
Pts
|
FG%
|
3pt%
|
Reb
|
Ast
|
Stl
|
Blk
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
2020
|
34
|
28.9
|
15.7
|
44.6
|
36.7
|
6.0
|
6.4
|
1.6
|
0.4
|
|
|
Career
|
34
|
28.9
|
15.7
|
44.6
|
36.7
|
6.0
|
6.4
|
1.6
|
0.4
|
Ball and his brothers have attracted national attention since playing together in high school. His father, LaVar, also grew into a media personality in 2017. Ball has a signature shoe by his father’s company, Big Baller Brand, and a role on his family’s Facebook Watch reality show Ball in the Family.
