LaMelo Ball

LaMelo Ball
	Ball in the 2022 NBA All-Star Game
No. 1 – Charlotte Hornets
Position	Point guard
League	NBA
Personal information
Born	August 22, 2001 (age 22); Anaheim, California, U.S.
Listed height	6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)
Listed weight	180 lb (82 kg)
Career information
High school	Chino Hills (Chino Hills, California); SPIRE Academy (Geneva, Ohio);
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
	NBA All-Star (2022); NBA Rookie of the Year (2021); NBA All-Rookie First Team (2021); NBL Rookie of the Year (2020); JBA champion (2018); JBA All-Star (2018);
	Stats at NBA.com
	Stats at Basketball-Reference.com

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.

[1] "2023-24 start of season NBA pronunciation guide" (Press release). National Basketball Association. October 24, 2023. Retrieved May 17, 2024.

[1]