.jpg) Ball in the 2022 NBA All-Star Game | |
| No. 1 – Charlotte Hornets | |
|---|---|
| Position | Point guard |
| League | NBA |
| Personal information | |
| Born | August 22, 2001 Anaheim, California, U.S. |
| Listed height | 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) |
| Listed weight | 180 lb (82 kg) |
| Career information | |
| High school |
|
| NBA draft | 2020: 1st round, 3rd overall pick |
| 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 | |
| |
| Stats at NBA.com | |
| Stats at Basketball Reference | |
LaMelo LaFrance Ball (/ləˈmɛloʊ/ lə-MEL-oh;[1] 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 was voted the NBA Rookie of the Year in 2021 and named an NBA All-Star the following season in 2022.
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. Ball was a five-star recruit and committed to UCLA, 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. There he had a meteoric rise. Previously, scouts had mocked Ball as a second-round pick and potentially never playing in the NBA. However, his success led him to be selected third overall by the Hornets in the 2020 draft.
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. His older brother Lonzo Ball is a guard for the Chicago Bulls.
- ^ "2023-24 start of season NBA pronunciation guide" (Press release). National Basketball Association. October 24, 2023. Retrieved May 17, 2024.