LaMelo Ball is highly regarded as one of the brightest young stars in the league currently. The 22-year-old is the son of LaVar Ball and Tina Ball. LaMelo Ball’s sparkling performances have seen him earn the NBA Rookie of the Year award in 2021 and the NBA All-Star in the 2022 campaign.
Ball has stolen the headlines with scintillating performances since the start of the season, which has prompted LaVar Ball, a renowned businessman with a history of altercations with one of the NBA’s legends, to openly blame him for his son’s ill-treatment at the Hornets.
LaVar slams MJ for son, LaMelo’s mistreatment
LaVar during an interview with DJ Vlad, openly criticized the then Charlotte Hornets’ former majority owner Michael Jordan for his son’s limited time on the court during his rookie season. Sport World News shared a post with the caption, “LaVar Ball Criticizes Michael Jordan HC Decision to Bench LaMelo in Rookie Season: LaVar Ball Unleashes Critique on Hornets.”
LaVar described the six-time NBA champion’s mentality as being outdated. He also said that Michael Jordan can’t offer his son any value since they play in different positions. He blasted the former Hornets owner for sideling Lamelo for 20 games.
LaVar said, “When the last time he won a championship? What’s he gonna tell him? And the game has changed, what’s he gonna tell him? If he had the say so, to say, ‘yo, this is what you do to get better,’ the Charlotte Hornets been around for a long time before my son got there. Tell some of them guys so you can win. Don’t wait to tell my boy, give the news to these other guys.”
Despite LaVar’s opinion of Jordan, he praised Lamelo’s efforts in the team after a few months. LaVar also added, “I think Melo has adjusted to the NBA game better than any of us ever thought this early in his career.”
Lamelo Ball averaged 30 points (23 pts in the 4th), 13 assists, and 10 rebounds, to prove how prolific he is for the Hornets as he was impressive in the recent game against the Dallas Mavericks.
LaMelo Ball extended his contract with Hornets in off-season
The Hornets aim to retain their former All-Star and construct a team around him following a disappointing season for both him and the team. Ball only participated in 36 games in the 2022-23 season, but he performed well whenever he played, averaging 23.3 points, 6.4 rebounds, 8.4 assists, and 1.3 steals per game in 35.2 minutes.
LaMelo Ball’s performance in the 2022-2023 season was enough to earn him a lucrative contract. The Charlotte Hornets made the official announcement of a 5-year contract extension at $260 million for Lamelo Ball in July. Ball’s contract is a simple five-year agreement without a player option, and with a 15 percent trade kicker, according to a report by Michael Scotto.
LaMelo Ball became the second-youngest player in NBA history to achieve 1,000 points, assists, and rebounds, trailing only LeBron James since joining the NBA. LaMelo Ball in the current season, has continued to dazzle which proves his potential, and is expected to enjoy more minutes for better results for the Hornets this current season.
