Charlotte Hornets: Comparing LaMelo Ball’s rookie campaign to Ja Morant’s through 20 games

Well, folks, we’re here; the quarter mark of the 2020-2021 NBA season. As we all know, this season has been unlike any other that we’ve seen before. Instead of the quarter mark being around the 20 game mark, as is it would be for an 82 game season, it is now game 18 that is considered the quarter mark for the season, because of the NBA choosing to play 72 games this year.

The exact quarter mark for a regular 82 game season is 20.5 games, so to make things easier, we are going to look at the first 20 games of Ja Morant’s rookie campaign compared to LaMelo Ball’s.

When the Charlotte Hornets drafted Ball at number three overall, the entire fanbase was both excited and nervous. They were excited because of how well he played in high school, but also nervous because he played overseas, and fans weren’t able to keep up with his career like they would’ve been able to do if he went the more traditional route of playing one year in college.

The one good thing about playing overseas besides the money aspect is avoiding the American sports media spotlight. This avoidance allowed Ball to improve his game while not having to deal with the media spotlight.

A quarter way through his first NBA season and he has been better than advertised. Sure, there have been some games where Ball has played like a rookie, but that is to be expected when you’re playing at the highest level.

In this article, we will compare the first quarter of LaMelo Ball’s rookie campaign, to that of the 2020 Rookie of the Year, Ja Morant’s. This article will look at a variety of different factors, and it will determine whether or not LaMelo Ball has a good shot at winning Rookie of the Year, based on the numbers of last year’s winner.