LAMELO BALL IS 20, WHICH EXPLAINS
why he suggests meeting at a place where Fruity Pebbles
are on the menu. Day & Night Cereal Bar opened in
Charlotte last April along a nondescript uptown alley.
Patrons include office workers, hotel tourists and, four
days a week, a gangly, 6' 7" Hornets point guard. Ball
slides his neon-yellow Lamborghini into a parking space
on North Church Street and orders a Cosmo & Wanda
shake, a blend of Froot Loops and the
berry pieces of Cap’n Crunch. “There’s
something like this back in L.A.,” he says
between pulls from an oversize straw.
“Cereal is undefeated, bro.”
Looking for a sense of entitlement from a
player who won Rookie of the Year despite
playing just 51 games last season? It isn’t
there. After the Hornets lost in last spring’s
play-in tournament, Ball could have
returned to his native SoCal and basked in
his instant stardom. Instead, he stayed in
Charlotte, toggling between the practice facility and his
downtown condo, dividing his time among jump shots,
deadlifts and video games. “I don’t really need a lot,” says
Ball. “I don’t really like going out too much. Just be at the
crib. Gym, right down the street. It’s the perfect situation.”
Looking for a whiff of arrogance from the high
school phenom with a reality-show credit on his IMDb
page and a signature shoe as a teenager? His teammates
haven’t sensed it. “With those type of guys, you always
think they’re going to come in with a cocky attitude,” says
forward Miles Bridges. “But it’s crazy because Melo, he’s
just the complete opposite. He’s just a hardworking kid
that wants to get better.”
Looking for traces of the bombastic personality his
father, LaVar, often showcases? Ask LaMelo, one of the
most gifted passers in a generation, to deconstruct some
of his jaw-dropping assists and receive a quizzical look.
“I’m just making it up,” Ball says. “I see someone; I throw
it. Whatever comes to my mind.”
There’s a breeziness to LaMelo that belies his age, an
uncanny ability to simply live in the moment. The No. 3 pick
in the 2020 draft delivered 15.7 points, 6.1 assists and
5.9 rebounds per game as a rookie, including 18.1 points
per game after being installed as a starter in February.
Before Ball broke his right wrist in late March, Charlotte
was in the thick of the playoff chase, notable for a team
that has made just three postseason appearances since
it entered the league as the Bobcats in ’04—and never
advanced past the first round.
Ball, whose numbers are up significantly this season,
has given the once-anonymous franchise a face. Fans
renewed their season tickets at a 90% clip, with 2,200 new
ones sold, putting the Hornets among the NBA’s top-five
ticket sellers in the offseason. His No. 2 jerseys, mean-
while, are f lying off shelves and onto the backs of fansin the Spectrum Center. “My first two years, it was only
packed if we played the Lakers, the Knicks or the Celtics,”
says Bridges. “A lot of fans came to see them. Now fans
actually come to see us. That’s Melo.
“He’s made the difference.”HORNETS COACH JAMES BORREGO
developed his philosophies on player development in
San Antonio, where he did two stints as an assistant. He
watched the Spurs’ staff, led by Gregg Popovich, forge
bonds with players off the court, which built the founda-
tion for success on the court. For example: Tony Parker,2 O
2 169 SPORTSPERSON OF THE YEAR 2021“With those type of guys, you always
think they’re going to come in with a
cocky attitude,” says fourth-year forward
Miles Bridges. “But it’s crazy because
MELO, HE’S JUST THE OPPOSITE.”BALL IS LIFE
After being named Rookie of the Year,
LaMelo stayed in Charlotte to work on his
game; his numbers are up across the board.