drilled enough threes to make Kupchak believe he could
make them at the NBA level. As for an L.A.-bred, heavily
hyped prospect’s desire to play in Charlotte? “You play
in Lithuania,” says Ball, “anywhere in the States is cool.”
The Hornets’ faith was quickly rewarded. A shortened,
postbubble training camp kept Ball on the bench to start
the season, but, he says, “I knew that wasn’t going to be the
case for long.” An injury to Devonte’ Graham in February
gave Ball a chance to start, and he seized it. Charlotte,
dead-last in the NBA in pace in 2019–20, jumped to 18th
last season. This year the Hornets are in the top five,
and Ball-to-Bridges has become one of the NBA’s most
fearsome transition threats. “He sees
everything,” says Bridges. “That’s just
the beauty of playing with Melo. He
knows where you want the ball, and
he gets it to you.”
From behind a desk in his office,
Borrego pulls up a LaMelo clip that
always makes him smile. It’s not a no-
look pass or a buzzer-beating triple
but a series of decisions that Borrego
believes best exemplifies Ball’s devel-
opment. With less than two minutes
to play in the fourth quarter and the
Hornets clinging to a three-point lead
over the Knicks on Nov. 12, Ball called
for a screen from Bridges. When the
defender slipped it, Ball called for
another. Again, the defender stayed
in front of him. From the sidelines,
Borrego anticipated Ball would go
one-on-one or toss up a contested
25-footer. Instead, Ball calmly signaled
Bridges to come out again. This time,
the screen stuck. After drawing the
second defender, Ball f lipped it back
to Bridges, who drove for a layup and
a foul. The Hornets went on to win. “I
had a moment by myself in this arena
full of people going, That was pretty
cool,” says Borrego. “His instinct said,
Go make a play. His growth pushed
him to find a better shot.”LAMELO INSISTS: HE DIDN’T
say what you think he said. In October,
Ball and Jay-Z—hip hop mogul, former
Nets owner and Brooklyn’s most famous
living citizen—crossed paths at halftime
of a Hornets-Nets game. The exchange
was caught on camera. Amateur
lip-readers quickly flooded social media with transcripts that
suggested Jay-Z asked LaMelo about playing in Brooklyn
and Ball replying that he was good in Charlotte. “It wasn’t
like that at all,” says Ball. “It was something very simple,
like, ‘Where you going after this?’ I’m like, ‘Oh, we back to
Charlotte.’ ” The endless deconstruction of the chat baffled
Ball. “I have one convo,” he says. “Man, I don’t even know.”
It’s the cost of being the hope of a franchise.
In his talks with Ball, Kupchak frequently brings up the
greatness of Kobe Bryant, whose development he helped
oversee as an executive with the Lakers. The practice
habits and offseason workouts, the competitiveness thatSPORTS ILLUSTRATED QSI.COM 72“If he misses two or three threes, and
there’s two minutes left in the game,
he’ll take another one,” says Kupchak of
Ball. “HE DOESN’T GET RATTLED, and he
has great confidence in his abilities.”BREAKOUT OF THE YEARCHILL TO THE BONE
Ball (with Kelly Oubre Jr.) has fit in easily
in Charlotte, largely because his needs are
simple: a nearby gym and his Xbox.