Despite the Charlotte Hornets poor start to the 2024-25 season, LaMelo Ball has been playing like a superstar. The former No. 3 overall pick in the 2020 NBA Draft is healthy and playing like an All-Star. But there might be a little cause for concern. LaMelo Ball was placed on the Hornets’ injury report ahead of their game against the New York Knicks.
LaMelo Ball is just one of several Hornets players that will miss the team’s game against the Knicks on Friday due to injury, as per team PR. Ball, who has been healthy this season, suffered a calf injury towards the end of the team’s loss to the Miami Heat on Wednesday.
In addition to Ball, the Hornets will also be without Miles Bridges (right knee), DaQuan Jeffries (right hand), Tre Mann (lower back), Nick Richards (right rib), Grant Williams (right ACL) and Mark Williams (left foot) against the Knicks. In Grant Williams’ case, he is out for the rest of the season.
The Hornets have started out the year at 6-12 and are ahead of only the Toronto Raptors and the Philadelphia 76ers as the bottom worst records in the Eastern Conference standings.
But Ball had been on a tear since the beginning of the season. He just recently completed a four-game stretch during which he scored 35, 50, 44 and 32 points, respectively.
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Through the first 18 games, Ball had been averaging 31.1 points, 5.4 rebounds, 6.9 assists and 1.1 steals with splits of 43 percent shooting from the field, 35.6 percent shooting from the three-point line and 84.8 percent shooting from the free-throw line. His points per game are a career-high.
The 2021 NBA Rookie of the Year, Ball has certainly proven himself as a franchise level player. Along with last season’s No. 2 overall pick Brandon Miller, they’ve formed an intriguing duo in Charlotte. But the team is still nowhere near being a consistent playoff contender.
David Yapkowitz is a basketball journalist for ClutchPoints, writing news on the NBA, WNBA, and NCAA Basketball for both men and women. The Los Angeles native has bylines with Basketball Insiders, SB Nation, and The Next Hoops.
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