3 Reasons to Be Psyched About LaMelo Ball as a Charlotte Hornet

With his established celebrity, LaMelo is a built-in draw with a chance to make the Hornets nationally relevant

Let’s not beat around the bush: at its core, the sports business is the entertainment business. Winning games is part of the equation, but getting eyeballs on TV/computer/cell phone screens, fans in the bleachers (in a normal year anyway), and jerseys on backs is the other half. It’s part of the reason the Hornets’ front office kept itself open to the idea of taking on Rockets star Russell Westbrook despite his immense contract.

And if there’s one thing everyone can agree on about LaMelo, it’s that attention follows wherever he goes.

The only thing more frustrating than being consistently bagged on is being consistently ignored. It’s not uncommon to listen to a podcast or read an article running down the list of Eastern Conference teams and find that the Hornets have been accidentally omitted. Ball’s presence on the team will force people—for better or worse—to pay attention to Charlotte.

I haven’t heard much about the Hornets’ young roster all year from ESPN until their selection of LaMelo. Now, just on draft night, I heard several analysts say Devonte Graham should have won Most Improved Player last season, and P.J. Washington and Miles Bridges got their due as talented young forwards to compliment Ball as well. That’s the effect a player of his reputation has on a small market franchise.

LaMelo has an international fan base as well—especially in Australia where he donated a month of his salary to the victims of the Australia bushfires (yes, that was at the beginning of this odyssey that has been 2020). He might even sell more jerseys internationally than any player the Hornets have ever had.

Truthfully, his deep wellspring of confidence is a double-edged sword. At this point in his career, fans might spend a lot of time with their faces planted in their palms. He very well might shoot you out of some games. However, he also won’t shy away from big moments. In fact, he’ll probably seek them out. His confidence is infectious.

You can’t be the best player on a good team without having that kind of self-belief. In professional sports, and especially in the NBA, you live and die by it. But you need it to compete at any kind of meaningful level.

For LaMelo Ball and the Charlotte Hornets, the job now is to ensure that, when the time comes, those big shots fall more often than not.

With the addition of some great second round players in this year’s draft as well, it’s an exciting time to be a Hornets fan.

Also, wouldn’t it be surreal to see Michael Jordan in an episode of Ball in the Family?