had a passion for football, too, which LaVar cleverly dis-
couraged; he would let his son play only if he wore cleats
to school. “That,” says LaMelo, “ended that.”
The Ball backyard was the neighborhood’s premier
pickup spot, with LaVar routinely pitting his three pre-
teen sons against kids several years older. For all of Ball’s
bravado, his coaching fingerprints are all over LaMelo’s
game. LaMelo thrives in transition because when com-
peting against bigger, stronger kids, playing fast was the
only way to score. “My boys are the only ones who got
to the NBA and had to slow down,” says LaVar. LaMelo
is a willing passer, in part, because LaVar stressed the
importance of getting the ball up the f loor and getting
teammates involved. He effortlessly f licks underhanded
assists the full length of the court because LaVar had him
throw that exact pass countless times in practice.
Ball spent the better part of his teen years hopscotching
the globe, playing in pro leagues in Lithuania and Australia
while participating in a 13-country tour LaVar organized
for the JBA, the league LaVar simply invented. But don’t
tell LaMelo the path was his father’s idea. “Everything
damn near felt like my choice,” LaMelo says. Even so, the
Lithuanian experience was lousy—the frozen climate, the
language barrier, the long minutes on the bench. “The team
wasn’t taking him seriously,” says LiAngelo, his teammate
on BC Prienai. But LaMelo, then 16, appreciated the extra
work he put in before and after practice with LaVar, which
he was able to do without the responsibility of academics.
“I take it all as a learning experience,” says Ball. His
stint with the Illawarra Hawks lasted just 12 games, but
he showed enough to be named the National Basketball
League’s Rookie of the Year. “Australia low-key was cool,”
says Ball. “That was the best overseas experience.”
Mitch Kupchak, the Hornets’ GM, liked what he saw
in Australia. Ball was a blur, a fearless, physically gifted
playmaker with uncanny vision. “Some of the guys he was
going up against were in their 20s and 30s,” says Kupchak.
“They’re strong and physical, and they compete. If you’re
afraid of contact or afraid of getting physically worn down
every game by these guys, then that’s not a good thing. We
didn’t see that.” Hawks officials raved about Ball’s work
ethic. “Because of the way he bounced around and all the
attention the family got, we were looking for something
bad—bad teammate, into himself, partier, whatever,”
Kupchak says. “There was none of that. It was pretty much
he stayed in his apartment, loved the game, worked, was
a good teammate, that kind of thing.”
A few weeks before the 2020 draft Kupchak, Borrego
and assistant GM Buzz Peterson f lew to Los Angeles to
meet with Ball. Borrego asked Ball what he valued. Family,
Ball said. Borrego was sold. Kupchak was a little skeptical
about Ball’s unorthodox shooting mechanics, including a
low release point. But during an hourlong workout, BallCRAMMING FOR
exams, by definition,
doesn’t leave time
for much else. As
Emma Raducanu was
studying for her A levels
(roughly the British
equivalent of high school
finals, only the A stands
for Advanced) in math and
economics last summer,
she was still able to enter
her first Grand Slam
event: Wimbledon, where
she became the first
British women’s player toreach the round of 16 in
the Open Era.
Four months later
Raducanu played in
her second major: the
U.S. Open, where she had
to battle her way into the
main draw by winning three
qualifying matches. No
qualifier, man or woman,
had ever made the semis
of a Grand Slam event, but
Raducanu blazed to the
title without losing a set.
The 18-year-old—
who gained Instagram
followers so fast her
account was temporarily
blocked, presumably
because IG thought she
was a bot—received public
props from the Queen and
appeared on the cover
of British Vogue. And
those A levels? Just as
she did on the final point
in Queens, Raducanu
aced them.—Mark BechtelSHE’S
ONE QUICK
STUDY
71 SPORTSPERSON OF THE YEAR 2021ER
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