There are certain players in most leagues that, after years of being subpar and unfulfilling, still leave room for optimism. Maybe it takes a certain spark to revitalize their career, a new coach or a new team. The Hornets’ recent 9-game win streak gives me reason to believe that LaMelo Ball is one of those players.
Before being drafted, one of the most common worries about taking Ball was his confidence despite inefficiency. In other words, he had an arrogant style of playing basketball.
“I’ve never seen such flair,” said sports commentator Skip Bayless back in November 2020, when Ball was playing in the National Basketball League (NBL). “But it didn’t contribute to winning a championship because it’s too wild, too undisciplined, and too often it doesn’t work.”
Bayless’ analysis was backed by Ball’s performance playing internationally. In the NBL, Ball played 12 out of 28 games in the season and scored 17 points, 8 rebounds, and 7 assists a night. While those stats sound good, they came with an unimpressive 38% accuracy in shooting.
In his pre-draft analysis, the official NBA notes on a player’s skills and drawbacks from their games in college, it says that Ball “shoots jumpers with unorthodox mechanics, including a two-handed release while kicking out his legs.”
Regardless, Ball was taken #3 overall by the Charlotte Hornets.
Since being drafted, Ball has only played 60 or more games in one season. Coincidentally, in that same span there has only been one season in which the Hornets have won 40 or more games – both happening in the 2021-22 season.
Constantly riddled with a variety of injuries, critics took notice of the fact that the face of a franchise can’t be on the bench majority of every season.
“The 6’7 playmaker has logged a total of 105 appearances over the past three seasons (246 games in total),” said Bleacher Report’s Joseph Zucker in October 2025. “A cornerstone piece who’s making more than $40 million annually has to be on the court more frequently,”.
Over multiple years of successful drafts, the Hornets have been able to stick with and build around Ball, and it’s finally giving him a clear shot at success. Kon Kneuppel, their fourth overall pick in last year’s draft, is on pace to break the rookie season record for 3-pointers made.
Their starting lineup of Ball, Kneuppel, Brandon Miller, Miles Bridges, and Moussa Diabate has been electric, recently winning 9 games in a row.
Only time will tell if this can hold, especially if the Hornets can secure a spot in the playoffs. But now that we know Ball can play winning basketball when paired with a winning group of players, the question becomes can he win when it counts?
