I hear LaMelo Ball before I see him. “Sheeeeeeeeeeeesh!” he exclaims when entering a room, his electric, beaming smile bouncing off the walls. “Sheeeeeeeeeeeesh!” he moans on the Charlotte Hornets’ practice court after an assistant coach scratches him across the eye. “Sheeeeeeeeeeeesh!” he whistles when I play Babyface Ray’s recent banger, “Real N-ggas Don’t Rap,” for him. The high-pitched screech is American vernacular at its wackiest, a sensational slang used all over TikTok to signify excitement and appreciation. But for LaMelo it’s almost like punctuation. He’s fluent in a patois drawn straight from the viral internet.
In fact, he regards himself as a kind of viral entity in his own right. “How do I feel about memes?” he ponders for a tick before giggling wryly. “I grew up with this shit.” LaMelo’s impact on his teammates is “like getting infected,” he explains. “It’s a whole different swagger and everything. N-ggas carry theyselves different. N-ggas goin’ to they jobs different. Ya feel me?”
I’m not entirely sure that I do until I sit with James Borrego in the Hornets head coach’s office and he cranes his head back and booms that familiar sound: “Sheeeeeeeeeeeesh!” I had asked Borrego to encapsulate LaMelo’s fabulous rookie season. To which the coach cups his mouth, widens his eyes, and loopily blurts like his star player.
I start saying sheeeeeeeeeeeesh right back, and it goes on like this for a few seconds, as if we’ve lost control of our bodies.
“Sheeeeeeeeeeeesh!” Borrego says.
“Sheeeeeeeeeeeesh!” I shoot back. We both chuckle, contaminated like all of Charlotte by the LaMelo contagion.
But honestly, what other word is there? “Sheeeeeeeeeeeesh!” is the logical response to LaMelo’s video game passes, all-court vision, and fast-break theatrics, which propelled him to one of the greatest statistical seasons by a 19-year-old in NBA history, the Rookie of the Year award, and the role of franchise centerpiece on the traditionally moribund Hornets. And it’s in keeping with his massive online popularity with the next generation of basketball fans; he ranks sixth in Instagram followers gained and views generated in the 2020–21 regular season, according to internal NBA rankings—LeBron James and Steph Curry territory.
To hear LaMelo tell it, all this was preordained. “My whole life, I always knew I was going to the NBA,” he says. “I always knew. Everything about this felt normal to me. I knew I’d have stardom. I grew up into it. I already had my life planned out. My whole life, I thought I was the star…. I ain’t even gonna say I’m a rock star. It’s something other than that. I’m something rare.” He has been famous since at least the age of 15, when he scored 92 points in a high school game and his father, LaVar, started a publicity campaign touting the basketball talents of his three sons, which would often lead national sports news broadcasts.
LaVar had a dream built in the image of Richard Williams, Mario Andretti, and Archie Manning: Lonzo, LiAngelo, and LaMelo would become NBA superstars playing fun, run-and-gun basketball. And for a while the perfectly named Balls were the first family of hoops, the Kardashians of the court, with a reality-based Facebook show and a self-owned apparel company. If Lonzo was the brooding brother and LiAngelo the quiet type, LaMelo was regarded as the jocular one.
Then Lonzo struggled as the number two pick with the Lakers, LaVar retreated from the spotlight, and 16-year-old LaMelo decided to leave high school and skip college for professional basketball in Lithuania, where LiAngelo joined him, and then Australia. Naturally, he has no regrets: “You wanna go to the league, so school’s not your priority.” He thinks the NCAA has to change and there should be more options for kids to make money before they get to the NBA (the Supreme Court opened a pathway toward that in a landmark ruling shortly after our interview). “We not trippin’ off school. We not dumb. We know how to learn. We don’t need school. And school not even teachin’ you shit—what the fuck is school?”
He felt isolated in Lithuania, and the local fans weren’t the kindest either. “N-ggas was throwin’ waters and Gatorades and they drinks at n-ggas and all that shit,” he says. In Australia, he was a constant triple-double threat but, after playing just 12 games before sitting out the season, also a mystery. When he entered the 2020 NBA draft, “there [was] a narrative out there,” Borrego tells me. “It can be complicated bringing a player like Melo in. ‘Will it be just about Melo?’ ‘Can you coach the kid?’ ‘Is there gonna be a show in town?’ ‘How much is the family involved?’ Those were all questions that were being thrown at us.” When he was drafted, The Charlotte Observer wrote that the Hornets had made a mistake and he’d never mature into a star. “There were questions about this, questions about that,” his manager, Jermaine Jackson, says, smirking. “All those questions got erased real fast, as you see. All them people and reporters sayin’ that shit, and you see what they doin’ now?”
LaMelo’s behavior matches his charmed life. He flashes and flexes the type of accoutrements that only a playful prodigy would enjoy. He drives a garish sherbet orange Lambo around Charlotte—a whip so icy folks flip out their phones to catch it, along, of course, with the city’s new luminary behind the wheel. His bright custom grills and matching chain dance under the sunlight. One night during my visit, before attending a baseball game, he curated a loud fit equipped with sunglasses and studded, red-bottom kicks. He pays close attention to what others are wearing too, at one point poking fun at the Birkenstocks he’d seen me sporting during the course of our time together. “Mannn,” he says. “You love you some Jesus slides, huh?”
But for all the big-time swagger and adult-size responsibilities, he’s also still just a teenager who loves Stranger Things and is afraid of spiders, thanks to his time Down Under. “Nahhhh, man. In Australia? Big-ass spiders. I’m talking this big,” he says, tilting his head back in disgust, measuring the size of his shaggy locks to demonstrate. “Hellll naw! That bitch was too big!” As for Stranger Things: “The concept? The way that shit look? Number Eleven? She goin’ crazy! That shit hard as fuck! Her lil’ nose be bleedin’?” LaMelo begins to wipe his nostrils, emulating the rapper Young Thug. “Slime! Kill a n-gga!”
To spend time with him is to listen to an endless assortment of mantras and boasts, an Ali-esque aplomb filtered through Aaron McGruder’s and Dan Harmon’s eyes. He describes himself mainly in internet parlance and lavish eccentricities. In conversation the dialogue becomes a zigzag. One minute he’s “something you’ve never seen,” the next he’s “one of one,” then he’s “rare” or “the golden child” or he’s “not from here.” (Catchphrases like these will adorn his first Puma signature sneaker, out in October.)
Take the way he explains one of his current favorites while we’re talking on a balcony in his apartment building in Charlotte. “Everybody always asks me what’s my slogan—kids, old people, adults. Two words, breh: Be you. Because if you ain’t you, you being somebody else and you already fucked up from the jump. So now whatever you trying to do, it ain’t never you. Either you gonna be unhappy or something is fucked up,” he says, wistfully gazing out across the city. “Say you building something and you got all the instructions and you fuck up from the beginning? N-gga, you ain’t never gonna build that shit. Ever. You just gotta be you from the jump, and whatever supposed to happen gonna happen. But if you ain’t you, you already lost.” He’s rolling now, occasionally turning and staring for a second as if I’m supposed to know his punch line before he delivers it, offering a tiny grin between his words, motioning and winking like I’m in the front row of his comedy special. LaMelo congratulates himself on his homily. “That’s a fact. That’s a big fact!”
Historically speaking, playing in Charlotte has come with frequent calamity—the team has not progressed past the first round of the playoffs in 20 years, and it owns the worst regular-season record of all time. Hornets owner Michael Jordan is often mocked for the ragtag crews he shepherds onto the court each season. But getting superstars to flock to small-market franchises is virtually impossible, meaning the bulk of the team building has to come through the draft. In LaMelo, Charlotte basketball has a future for the first time since Kemba Walker came to town a decade ago or Larry Johnson and Muggsy Bogues controlled Buzz City in the ’90s.
At this point, LaMelo’s talent is undeniable, “a jolt this program has needed, this city has needed,” Borrego says. Still, Borrego feels that someone has to hold LaMelo accountable. “There’s times you have to speak the truth to young players, and Melo’s no exception,” Borrego explains. LaMelo didn’t immediately follow the patterns that turn boys into men and rookies into professionals in the NBA, he says. “The habits of being on time. Not skipping a weight session. Studying your playbook. Knowing your plays. These are areas of growth that he’s working on.” He’s trying to drill those habits into LaMelo now. “Let’s not wait three or four years, when he’s too far gone and already a star. Then you can’t pull him back.”
LaMelo is a star right now. The goal for all parties is for him to mature into a bona fide supernova and even bring a championship to Charlotte, which sounds unlikely now but, if LaMelo progresses as he should, is no longer completely crazy to dream of. “That’s definitely the plan, man,” LaMelo says. “I want to be here for a long time. I love the game. I love being around it. This is what I wanted to do with my life.” All summer he’s been in Charlotte, perfecting his craft with tailored workouts and 2 a.m. gym sessions. If LaMelo stays healthy this season—he missed 21 games last year—Charlotte has a chance to evolve from League Pass Legends to the national stage as frisky fringe contenders in the Eastern Conference. Borrego believes LaMelo can transform the Hornets’ fortunes: “He has the potential to lead that charge more than anyone we’ve seen in this city in a long time.”
While I’m sitting with Borrego, I hear a cacophony of “yerr”s from down the hallway outside his office. It turns out that Miles Bridges, Charlotte’s other young talent, has just surprised LaMelo with the Rookie of the Year trophy on camera. Before I can get there, he’s darted away from the arena in that Lambo, his prize in hand, disappearing into the maze of downtown Charlotte.
I thought I’d lost him, but I catch up with LaMelo later that day on the balcony, sipping a smoothie, enthralled by his own bliss. LaMelo is almost two hours late for our meeting—but then, this is the wunderkind Borrego lovingly describes as a “spirit of curiosity.” Of course LaMelo is late. He has more important shit to do than this.
“It’s the life of a busy man, ya feeeeeel me?!” he says with a chuckle, kicking his feet up, getting relaxed. “I ain’t gon’ lie, I was definitely late,” he says. And then he offers yet another LaMelo mantra: “But when a n-gga finally get here? That shit be fireworks.”
LaMelo Ball
_(cropped).jpg) Ball with the Illawarra Hawks in 2019
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| No. 2 – Charlotte Hornets | |
|---|---|
| Position | Point guard |
| League | NBA |
| Personal information | |
| Born | August 22, 2001 Anaheim, California |
| Nationality | American |
| Listed height | 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) |
| Listed weight | 180 lb (82 kg) |
| Career information | |
| High school |
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| NBA draft | 2020 / Round: 1 / Pick: 3rd overall |
| Selected by the Charlotte Hornets | |
| Playing career | 2018–present |
| Career history | |
| 2018 | Prienai |
| 2018 | Los Angeles Ballers |
| 2019–2020 | Illawarra Hawks |
| 2020–present | Charlotte Hornets |
| Career highlights and awards | |
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Stats  |
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| Stats at Basketball-Reference.com | |
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.
Ball began high school at Chino Hills High School in Chino Hills, California, where he won a state championship and achieved national success as a freshman with his older brothers Lonzo and LiAngelo. Before his junior season, a coaching dispute prompted him to leave Chino Hills and sign with Lithuanian professional team Prienai. In 2018, he played in the Junior Basketball Association (JBA), a league created by his father, before returning to high school as a senior with SPIRE Academy in Geneva, Ohio. A former UCLA commit, he was a five-star recruit but chose to forgo college basketball amid eligibility concerns and play in Australia for the Illawarra Hawks of the National Basketball League (NBL) in 2019, winning NBL Rookie of the Year. He was selected by the Hornets with the third overall pick in the 2020 NBA draft and was named the NBA Rookie of the Year in 2021.
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.
Early life
Ball was trained in basketball by his father, LaVar, as soon as he could walk. At age four, he started playing the sport with his older brothers, Lonzo and LiAngelo, facing much older opponents. He also played flag football with his brothers at age five but continued to focus on basketball. In 2013, while in seventh grade, Ball began playing with his brothers on Big Ballers VXT, a 17-and-under Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) team launched and coached by his parents. The team, which was not sponsored by a major shoe company, did not compete in top AAU circuits and instead took part in local competitions.
High school career
Freshman
In his freshman season, Ball started playing basketball for Chino Hills High School in Chino Hills, California. He was teammates with his two older brothers, Lonzo and LiAngelo, and his cousin, Andre Ball. In his first game, Ball scored 27 points as a starter. On March 5, 2016, he scored 26 points in a win over Sierra Canyon School for the CIF Southern Section Open Division title. Later in the month, Ball helped his team capture the CIF Open Division state championship, recording 14 points in the title game against De La Salle High School. Chino Hills finished the season with a 35–0 record and claimed the mythical national championship. Ball averaged 16.4 points and 3.8 assists per game and shared MaxPreps National Freshman of the Year honors with his teammate, Onyeka Okongwu.
Sophomore
On December 26, 2016, Ball made national headlines for making a half-court shot two seconds into a game. On February 4, 2017, he suffered his first high school loss despite scoring a game-high 36 points, with Oak Hill Academy ending Chino Hills’ 60-game win streak. In his next game, on February 7, Ball scored 92 points in a win over Los Osos High School, the second-most single-game points in California high school history. He was criticized by analysts for cherry picking, as he often waited near half court to get an open shot on his next possession instead of defending. Ball finished the season averaging 26.7 points and almost 10 assists per game, earning MaxPreps Sophomore All-American first team recognition. On July 27, he featured in an AAU game against five-star recruit Zion Williamson that was featured in national sports media.
On October 2, 2017, before his junior season, Ball left Chino Hills to be homeschooled because his father disapproved of newly-appointed head coach Dennis Latimore and school administration. On December 7, he signed with agent Harrison Gaines to play professionally overseas alongside his brother LiAngelo. The decision indicated that he would not play college basketball. In the following days, Gaines offered the brothers to professional teams in various European countries and in Japan.
Senior
On November 5, 2018, after skipping his junior year and a part of his senior year to play professionally, Ball joined SPIRE Institute and Academy, a prep school in Geneva, Ohio, where he played under head coach Jermaine Jackson. SPIRE competed outside the jurisdiction of the Ohio High School Athletic Association, allowing Ball to play without concerns over his amateur status. A number of prominent high school teams canceled their match-ups with SPIRE because Ball’s professional experience would threaten their eligibility under their state federations.[31] His team was removed from the Hoophall Classic tournament because event organizers did not meet a $10,000 request from a Ball family associate in order for Ball to play. On November 10, 2018, Ball debuted for SPIRE, recording 20 points, 13 assists and five rebounds in a 96–84 win over The Hill School. On March 7, 2019, he scored 41 points, including 29 in the first half, in a 102–67 victory over Hillcrest Prep North at the Grind Session World Championship. Ball helped his team reach the final and was named season MVP. He was ruled ineligible for the 2019 McDonald’s All-American Game due to his professional experience.
Recruiting
Ball verbally committed to play college basketball for UCLA at age 13, before starting high school, becoming the third of his brothers to commit to the school. Ball, who was also recruited by Virginia and Washington State at the time, said that UCLA was his “dream school.” He emerged as a top recruit in the 2019 class during his sophomore season in high school. Most recruiting services considered him a five-star recruit and one of the top point guards in his class. When Ball returned to high school after a professional stint in 2018, he remained a five-star recruit.
The 2017 release of Ball’s Melo Ball 1 signature shoe by Big Baller Brand, his family’s sports apparel company, threatened his eligibility under the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). Ball’s father ignored the concerns and considered having his son skip college for that reason. Ball’s signing of an agent and his professional experience further imperiled his NCAA eligibility. Despite questions surrounding his eligibility, which discouraged major NCAA Division I programs from recruiting him, he expressed interest in playing college basketball upon his return to high school in November 2018. In the following months, however, Ball explored alternative options, including prep school, the NBA G League and professional leagues in Australia and China.
Charlotte Hornets guard LaMelo Ball shoots against the Toronto Raptors during the second half of an NBA preseason basketball game in Charlotte, N.C.
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| LaMelo Ball PG |
Chino Hills, CA | SPIRE Academy (OH) | 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) | 180 lb (82 kg) | — | |
Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals:  |
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| Overall recruiting rankings: Rivals: — 247Sports: 26 ESPN: 21 | ||||||
Sources:
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Professional career
Prienai (2018)
On December 11, 2017, Ball signed with Prienai of the Lithuanian Basketball League (LKL) with his brother, LiAngelo. Ball reportedly became the youngest American to ever sign a professional basketball contract. The brothers’ move to Lithuania was heavily reported by American sports media. Prienai withdrew from the Baltic Basketball League upon their arrival and took part in various exhibition games sponsored by Big Baller Brand. On January 13, 2018, Ball made his professional debut, going scoreless in five minutes against Lietkabelis. On February 4, he scored a season-high 19 points, with four three-pointers and six assists, in a loss to Žalgiris. In an exhibition game toward the end of the month, he suffered a leg injury that sidelined him for a month. On April 25, Ball left Prienai with his family, with his father criticizing the team’s head coach Virginijus Šeškus, in part because Ball did not receive enough playing time. He finished the LKL season averaging 6.5 points and 2.4 assists, shooting 26.8 percent from the field, in 12.8 minutes per game.
Los Angeles Ballers (2018)
On May 4, 2018, Ball signed with the Los Angeles Ballers of the Junior Basketball Association (JBA), a new league created by his father as an alternative to college basketball, and was touted by the league as its “marquee player.” In his debut on June 21, he posted a triple-double of 40 points, 16 rebounds, 10 assists and three steals, shooting 15-of-40 from the field, in a 134–124 win over the New York Ballers. Over eight regular season games, Ball averaged a triple-double with 39.6 points, 14.6 rebounds and 11.5 assists per game, while being named to the All-Star Game. In the playoff semifinals versus the New York Ballers, he scored a season-high 55 points, 16 rebounds and seven assists. He led Los Angeles to a JBA championship over the Seattle Ballers. After the season, Ball was named to the league’s select team, called JBA USA, which would face several European teams on an international tour. On October 31, in an exhibition game versus Dzūkija on the tour, he was ejected after slapping an opposing player in the face during a scuffle. On November 5, he left the JBA tour to return to high school in the United States for his senior season.
Illawarra Hawks (2019–2020)
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On June 17, 2019, Ball signed a two-year contract, including NBA out clauses, with the Illawarra Hawks of the Australian-based National Basketball League (NBL). He joined the Hawks through the NBL Next Stars program, which aims to develop NBA draft prospects. In August 2019, after playing for No Shnacks at the Drew League, Ball was named Leader of the New School, an award honoring the league’s top rookie. For the NBL season, he moved to Australia with his former SPIRE Institute coach Jermaine Jackson, who became his manager and helped him acclimate. In late September, he had success at the NBL Blitz, a pre-season tournament. He recorded 19 points, 13 rebounds and seven assists in a preseason win over the Perth Wildcats.
On October 6, in his first regular season game, Ball tallied 12 points, 10 rebounds and five assists on 6-of-17 shooting in a loss to the Brisbane Bullets. He assumed a more important role following a season-ending injury to star point guard Aaron Brooks on October 27. Ball recorded a season-high 32 points, 11 rebounds and 13 assists on November 25, in an overtime victory over the Cairns Taipans, to become the youngest NBL player to record a triple-double. In his next game, Ball posted another triple-double with 25 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists but was held to 10-of-28 shooting in a loss to the New Zealand Breakers. He became the fourth player in league history, and the first since the NBL switched to 40-minute games in 2009, to record consecutive triple doubles.
On December 8, before he played another game, it was announced that he would miss about four weeks of action after bruising his foot in practice. On January 16, 2020, while still sidelined, Ball decided to sit out for the remainder of the season. He parted ways with the Hawks on January 28 to return to the United States and prepare for the 2020 NBA draft. Through 12 NBL games, Ball averaged 17 points, 7.4 rebounds and 6.8 assists per game, shooting 37.7 percent from the field. At the end of the season, he was named NBL Rookie of the Year over Kouat Noi by five votes (49–44).
Charlotte Hornets (2020–present)
In the 2020 NBA draft, which was held on November 18, 2020, Ball was selected with the third overall pick by the Charlotte Hornets. He and his brother Lonzo, who was chosen No. 2 overall in the 2017 draft, became the first set of brothers to both be drafted in the top 3 of the NBA draft. After an up-and-down preseason, he began the regular season coming off the bench. Ball made his debut on December 23, 2020, going scoreless along with one rebound, three assists, and two steals in 16 minutes in a 121–114 loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers.
On January 8, 2021, against the New Orleans Pelicans, Ball and Lonzo played in their first regulation game against each other at any level. Ball helped rally the Hornets from an 18-point deficit to a 118–110 win. He narrowly missed a triple-double with 12 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists. On January 9, at the age of 19 years old and 140 days, he became the youngest player in NBA history with a triple-double, breaking the record set by Markelle Fultz by 177 days. Ball had 22 points, 12 rebounds, and 11 assists in a 113–105 win against the Atlanta Hawks. On January 30, Ball recorded a then career-high 27 points, along with five rebounds, nine assists, and four steals in a 126–114 win over the Milwaukee Bucks. For his performance in December and January, Ball was awarded with Eastern Conference Rookie of the Month after averaging 12.2 points, 6.1 assists, 5.9 rebounds and 1.4 steals over his first 21 games in the NBA. On February 1, Ball made the first start of his career in a 129–121 victory over the Miami Heat. He finished the game with 14 points, five rebounds, and seven assists. On February 5, Ball recorded a career-high 34 points, along with eight assists, four rebounds, two steals, and one block in a 138–121 loss to the Utah Jazz. He also became the youngest player in franchise history to record a 30-point game. He was named Rookie of the Month again for February after averaging 20.1 points, 6.2 rebounds and 6.7 assists in 13 games. On March 21, Ball suffered a fractured bone in his right wrist in a loss against the Los Angeles Clippers and was listed as out indefinitely. On April 19, Ball was cleared to resume basketball activities. On May 1, Ball made his return from injury, putting up 11 points, seven rebounds, and eight assists, in a 107–94 win against the Detroit Pistons. After the season Ball was named the 2020–21 NBA Rookie of the Year and was selected to the NBA All-Rookie First Team.
Career statistics
| GP | Games played | GS | Games started | MPG | Minutes per game |
| FG% | Field goal percentage | 3P% | 3-point field goal percentage | FT% | Free throw percentage |
| RPG | Rebounds per game | APG | Assists per game | SPG | Steals per game |
| BPG | Blocks per game | PPG | Points per game | Bold | Career high |
NBA
| Year | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020–21 | Charlotte | 51 | 31 | 28.8 | .436 | .352 | .758 | 5.9 | 6.1 | 1.6 | .4 | 15.7 |
| Career | 51 | 31 | 28.8 | .436 | .352 | .758 | 5.9 | 6.1 | 1.6 | .4 | 15.7 | |
NBL
| Year | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019–20 | Illawarra | 12 | 12 | 31.2 | .377 | .250 | .723 | 7.4 | 6.8 | 1.7 | .2 | 17.0 |
LKL
| Year | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017–18 | Prienai | 8 | 1 | 12.8 | .268 | .250 | .737 | 1.1 | 2.4 | .8 | .1 | 6.5 |
Personal life
Ball is the youngest son of LaVar and Tina (née Slatinsky) Ball, who are both former college basketball players. LaVar, who stands 6-foot-6 (1.98 m), competed with Washington State and then Cal State Los Angeles. Tina, who stands 6-feet (1.83 m), also played with the latter school. Later on, LaVar played professional football as a tight end for the London Monarchs of the World League of American Football after being loaned from the New York Jets. In 2017, LaVar became a popular but polarizing sports media personality, primarily for making outlandish remarks about the careers of himself and his sons.[103] Ball’s cousin Andre plays college basketball for Pepperdine.
Since his freshman season in high school, Ball has drawn the attention of national sports outlets and established a large social media following. By 2017, many analysts were calling him a celebrity. Ball has a role in the Facebook Watch reality show Ball in the Family, which was launched in August 2017 and documents the lives of his family members.[107][108][109] On June 26, 2017, Ball appeared on a segment of WWE Raw with members of his family, during which he told his father, “Beat that nigga ass!” The WWE later apologized for his “inappropriate language.” Ball is the subject of a rap single titled “Melo Ball 1” and released by his brother, Lonzo, on September 8, 2017.
On August 31, 2017, Big Baller Brand, a sports apparel company launched by Ball’s family in 2016, released a signature shoe for him called the Melo Ball 1 (MB1). He became the youngest athlete to ever have a signature shoe.
