LaMelo Ball is the most talented basketball player on the Charlotte Hornets.
When he’s right, Ball is a one-man-army that can eviscerate an opposing defense with the flick of a wrist from just about anywhere inside of the half court stripe. He’s a devilish playmaker with a knack for executing passes that mere mortals can only dream of, leveraging his 6’7” frame to drop dimes over, under, and around unsuspecting defenders.
When he’s right, LaMelo Ball is the type of on-ball cornerstone that elite offenses can be built around.
The problem is that he is far from right.
Since returning from his ankle impingement, an injury that continues to plague his promising career, Ball has been one of the more detrimental players in the NBA.
In Ball’s five games post-injury return (in which the Hornets are 0-5), he’s averaging 16.6 points, 5,0 rebounds, and 7.6 assists on 32.5% from the field and 21% (8/38) from long-range. His usage rate of 38.4% (per Cleaning the Glass) is in the league’s 94th percentile and his points per shot attempt (the total points scored per 100 shot attempts, a rough measure of shooting efficiency) of 91.2 is in the 9th percentile.
Ball is playing as a high-usage, low-efficiency offensive engine that can’t get out of first gear. Instead of the top gear Ferrari he once was, LaMelo has devolved into a used Toyota Corolla. It’s been a tough watch.
There are a number of reasons that can explain his struggles: his minutes limit, his injured ankle, struggles with Charlotte’s new offensive system, but no matter the reason, everything looks labored for LaMelo Ball right now.
He is unable to create space on the perimeter for his patented step back threes, and if he does open up a window to fire away, the shot is more likely to clang off the rim than feather through the nylon. Every bucket he sinks inside the three-point arc is a tough make through contact as opposing defenses are able to overplay his drives because they’re not worried about LaMelo burning them from long-range.
To compound his issues as a scorer, Ball has been nothing short of a sieve on defense. The Knicks attacked him over-and-over-and-over-and-over again on Wednesday night, putting LaMelo in screening actions that ended with him attempting to guard all-world one-on-one scorer Jalen Brunson in isolation.
The only positive to point to in LaMelo’s statistical profile is his elite assist percentage (43.2%) that leads all guards over the past two weeks.
For Charlotte to snap their season-long seven game losing streak and for LaMelo to regain his once lost form, the fix lies in that assist rate.
It’s time for LaMelo Ball to become a playmaker first
Ball needs to lean into his special playmaking talents.
His inability to put the ball through the net can be mitigated by creating shots for his teammates. Although LaMelo can’t create acres of space off the dribble, he doesn’t need to if his main goal is to open up looks for his talented running mates Kon Knueppel, Brandon Miller, and Miles Bridges in the flow of Charles Lee’s reimagined half court offense.
When Ball has been at his best in 2025, he’s diced opposing defenses in structure, making the right reads out of the double drag action that Charlotte’s cornerstone offensive action.
There are few players in the history of basketball that can make the passes Ball does due to his rare blend of frame, understanding of defensive leverage, and his ability to map the court. If LaMelo becomes a pass-first point guard (which, to be honest, is a large ask and not something that will realistically happen), opposing teams will load up on his teammates and make Ball’s life as a scorer exponentially easier.
Ball needs to trade some of the step back, one-legged threes and off-balance floaters through contact and over big men for non-self created looks in the half court for his detrimental efficiency numbers to rise. He has talented shot creators and shot makers sharing the floor with him; it’s past time for LaMelo to lean on them.
Charlotte blitzed their opposition in the preseason and early regular season action with an ‘everybody eats’, egalitarian approach. Where has it gone?
A leopard can’t change his spots, but a makeover of Ball’s game is necessary for him to shake out of this funk and lead the Hornets back into the win column.
If he doesn’t, both parties are in trouble. Charlotte will continue to tumble down the Eastern Conference standings and compound the bad habits that are weighing down the team in this seven-game losing streak.
On top of that, Ball’s trade value will wither to nothing, and Charlotte will be stuck paying max money to a player who isn’t producing numbers that match his annual salary.
LaMelo Ball didn’t simply forget how to play basketball. He’s still an über-talented player worth constructing an offense around; it is just time for him to change his approach to the game.
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