Charlotte Hornets: LaMelo Ball should have made Team USA’s Olympic Basketball Roster

Charlotte Hornets point guard and Rookie of the Year Award winner LaMelo Ball, probably can’t help but think to himself, “why wasn’t I given a chance to shine on the global stage?”

The United States Men’s basketball team has gotten off to one of the worst starts in the program’s history.

First, the Americans were dealt a surprising loss to Team Nigeria in a 90-87 defeat, and then a few days later, Australia, led by Patty Mills and Joe Ingles got the best of the States, winning their exhibition contest 91-83.

Team USA sports an all-time record of 54-2 in exhibition games. They have already doubled that loss total in 2021, and there are many different spots to point fingers at.

Unlike several players chosen to represent the country in Tokyo, Ball actually has experience playing against overseas competition, which makes a huge difference, especially the way FIBA officiates international competition.

It’s been said by current USA players that they have had to adjust to different officiating rules in the exhibition games.

“Team USA is still in a feeling-out period when it comes to playing with each other, and one noticeable observation is that they’re still in NBA mode. Throughout the games, multiple players, from Jayson Tatum to Bradley Beal, have been staring down the officials following no-calls as they’re accustomed to receiving touch fouls or star-treatment officiating in the NBA,” said Yahoo Sports’ Chris Haynes.

Going from playing in today’s NBA game where certain players are allowed to live at the free-throw line, to playing a more hard-nosed style game, and you can see there’s a huge margin of error in the adjusting period.

Luka Doncic has stated in the past that scoring in Europe was much more difficult to do than here in the States. “Here [in the NBA] it’s easier to score compared to Europe, of course. In Europe, the court is smaller and here there is the three seconds rule. I think it’s easier to score here,” Doncic said in an interview with Eurohoops.

Ball excelled in his playing days overseas. The maturity and basketball IQ playing against this specific competition is something that should not have been denied when and if Ball was discussed as a possible pick to play in Tokyo.

I fully expect Ball to be in the running to represent Team USA when the Summer Olympics return in Paris in 2024.