Charlotte Hornets head coach Charles Lee’s decision to remove LaMelo Ball from the starting lineup during back-to-back sets has drawn some flak from fans. And based on how the Hornets have performed in the opening minutes with Ball on the bench, the criticisms carry great weight.
As Doug Branson of Yahoo Sports noted in the three games where Ball played as a reserve this season, the team has been outscored a total of 53-25 in those Ball-less minutes. That means he has entered those contests with Charlotte trailing by an average of 8.7 points.
Hornets’ offense is stagnant without Ball
The first time it happened was the Hornets’ frustrating loss against one of the league’s worst squads, the Indiana Pacers. They fell into a 16-6 hole before Ball was subbed in at the 6:36 mark of the first quarter. With the star on the floor, they managed to narrow the margin before the end of the opening frame, but still lost 114-112 after running out of gas near the end of the match.
The 2021 Rookie of the Year came off the bench again versus the Golden State Warriors, and it was the same story. Charlotte trailed 24-17 when he stepped foot on the court with 5:09 left in the period, but the Warriors’ balanced scoring proved impossible to overcome. With Ball failing to find his rhythm on offense, Buzz City eventually suffered a 136-116 defeat.
On Wednesday, Lee again employed the strategy, only this time, it turned out much worse for the Hornets. The Cleveland Cavaliers raced to a 13-2 start in the bout’s first four minutes, resulting in Ball having to go in earlier than he had done before. It didn’t matter, though, as the Cavs’ offense and defense kept humming in the first half.
The star point guard registered his worst shooting performance of the 2025-26 campaign. He went 1-15 from the field and failed to hit a 3-pointer for only the second time this season despite 10 attempts from that range. The good news for the Hornets is that Ball and the rest of the squad’s defense allowed them to make it competitive. Unfortunately, they still succumbed to a 94-87 loss.
Playing catch-up could mean Ball expending more energy
If we’re looking at Ball’s performance and the game outcome whenever he suits up as a reserve, it’s easy to say that Charlotte should just scratch the scheme. But perhaps we should wait to see how well the team plays against the Orlando Magic on Thursday.
It’s worth noting that while the Hornets went 0-2 in the first back-to-back set that the new Melo strat debuted, they beat the Denver Nuggets a day after their loss to the Warriors.
Still, the fact that they start slow without Ball suggests that Lee might need to come up with a new plan. If the goal is to preserve the 2022 All-Star’s energy and minutes to make sure he can play during crunch time, then the Hornets might be failing at that, too, because playing while down big on the scoreboard could cause him to expend more energy in helping them cut down the lead.
On the other hand, there might be a way for that approach to work: find a legitimate playmaker who can open up better scoring opportunities for Brandon Miller, Kon Knueppel, and Miles Bridges. Clearly, plugging Collin Sexton (a combo guard) and Sion James (still lacking experience) into the starting lineup as Ball’s replacement has not worked out well for them.