Charlotte Hornets point guard LaMelo Ball was praised by head coach Charles Lee and forward Brandon Miller.
After the Charlotte Hornets beat the Memphis Grizzlies on Saturday to improve to 37-34 on the season, All-Star point guard LaMelo Ball was praised by head coach Charles Lee and forward Brandon Miller.
Ball is playing the best basketball of his career right now and Lee and Miller love being around the talented scorer and passer.
"His spirit is so infectious and contagious around our building," Lee said, via the Charlotte Observer. "There's just so much joy that he brings. His teammates love him. They love being around him. … He is one of those guys that's so open-minded to being coached. He's still hungry to learn. And because you're able to coach your best players hard and consistently, it makes everybody else around him also realize that they can also get coached, too. So, it creates a good environment where I think everybody understands it's not personal. It's all in an effort to help us get better."
Added Miller: "Him on the defensive side, nobody really talks about it. I think everybody always looks at the one-legged threes, the flashy moves, the flashy lobs. The one thing that separates him this season is the defensive effort and the competitor that he is. Just stepping up in tough games and guarding the best players and trying not to foul. It's him just trying new things. So him being open-minded is great for us."
Ball has appeared in 61 games for the Hornets this season. He's averaging 19.7 points, 4.8 rebounds and 7.1 assists per game while shooting 40.5% from the field, 36.7% from beyond the arc and 89.3% from the free-throw line.
Charlotte is in 10th place in the Eastern Conference standings. All signs point toward the team being in the NBA play-in tournament this year.
If the Hornets are the 10th seed, they would need to win two play-in games to make the 2026 playoffs. Charlotte hasn't made the playoffs since 2016.
Ball's career with the Hornets has been filled with several ups and downs, but it appears the downs are in the past.
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