LaMelo Ball’s time in Charlotte is over, and the numbers tell the story of a Hornets career that swung from electric promise to frustration, then back to one last burst of production before the door shut.
When the 2020 draft finally arrived on November 18 after being delayed by COVID-19, Charlotte used the third pick on Ball. That made him the third third pick in franchise history, joining Adam Morrison in 2006 and Baron Davis in 1999.
His NBA debut against the Cleveland Cavaliers was a strange one. The 19-year-old finished with zero points and a plus-minus of +2, and it ended up being the only scoreless game he ever had as a Hornets player.
From there, the offense and passing came fast. Ball shook off a fractured right wrist, returned late in the season, and put himself in position to win Rookie of the Year.
He did exactly that, becoming the third Rookie of the Year in franchise history after Larry Johnson and Emeka Okafor. He also made the All-Rookie First Team, something only four other players in Hornets history had done before him. On top of that, Ball became the youngest NBA player to post a triple-double at the time and the first rookie in sixty years to lead all rookies in points, rebounds, assists, and steals.
His second season pushed him even further into the spotlight. Ball started 75 games, improved his numbers, and earned an All-Star reserve spot after Kevin Durant had to withdraw because of an injury.
That made him the third-youngest All-Star ever and the eighth in Hornets history. He also piled up five triple-doubles in the 2021-22 season, which remains a franchise record.
Even as the highlights kept coming, a tougher pattern started to show. Ball’s efficiency dipped against the league’s best defenses and in high-pressure moments.
Whether that was on him or on a roster that didn’t give him much help is open to argument. What isn’t open to debate is that both of his first two seasons ended the same way: with a lopsided play-in loss.
Charlotte responded by moving on from head coach James Borrego and bringing in Steve Clifford. Ball made a change too, switching his jersey number from two to one.
The change didn’t bring the kind of turnaround anyone wanted. Over the next three seasons, injuries stacked up, and he managed to play only 105 of a possible 246 games.
When he was available, the support around him was thin.
Still, he had his moments. His most memorable explosion in that stretch came against the Milwaukee Bucks, when he dropped 50 points for his career high and the third-highest total in Hornets history.
Then came what was, in some ways, his strongest season in Charlotte. Ball had healthier teammates, avoided major injury, and helped the Hornets to their best record since 2016. He was central to some of the biggest wins in franchise history, set a franchise record with 10 made threes in a game against Washington, and finished with the second-most threes in a season in Hornets history.
His final two games for Charlotte came in play-in action, and they looked like classic LaMelo: scoring bursts, slick assists, ugly turnovers, defensive breakdowns, and a game-winner that mattered.
The long view is just as striking. Ball leaves Charlotte second in franchise history with 977 made threes, and he was the fastest NBA player ever to reach 900.
He also ranks fourth in field goals made and fourth in assists. On a per-game basis, he sits third in points and assists.
Dig deeper, and he owns the second-highest assist percentage and BPM, along with the highest usage percentage and OBPM.
Those numbers won’t settle the argument over what Ball really was in Charlotte, or whether the Hornets should have kept him. But they do show two things clearly: he carried a huge load, and he left a real imprint on the record book.
The label people attach to that career is still up for debate. The chapter itself is not.
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