Charlotte Hornets guard LaMelo Ball has made a major change to his appearance.
Charlotte Hornets star LaMelo Ball just put together the best season of his NBA career. Not necessarily from a statistical perspective, but from a growth and durability standpoint, it was hard not to be encouraged with what we saw from Ball this year.
The Hornets won 44 games and just missed out on the playoffs, as they were eliminated from the play-in tournament. So now, it's the offseason for Charlotte, which has a whole lot to look forward to heading into next year.
And for Ball, that means some changes. Hopefully, he'll work on his game this summer, but before that, he decided to alter his appearance.
Ball got a new haircut this week, and his barber, Philly Garcia out of Los Angeles, posted a video showing the new look.
Ball played in 72 games this season, his most since his second year in the league back in 2021-22. He averaged 20.1 points, 7.1 assists and 4.8 rebounds over 28 minutes per game on 40.7/36.8/89.9 shooting splits, logging a career-high .147 win shares per 48 minutes.
What's more, the former No. 3 overall pick posted a plus-6.3 net rating, with a plus-11.2 net rating on offense.
Durability was a major concern for Ball heading into the 2025-26 campaign, as he appeared in a grand total of 105 contests the preceding three seasons. That was especially worrisome considering the Hornets had signed Ball to a five-year, $204 million extension back in July 2023.
However, Ball quelled those fears this year. At least temporarily. But now, there is hope that the 24-year-old actually can remain healthy over the course of a full 82-game campaign, which was looking like an exercise in futility previously.
Ball is part of a very impressive young nucleus in Charlotte that also includes Brandon Miller and Rookie of the Year runner-up Kon Knueppel, among others.
The Hornets were one of the best teams in basketball during the second half of the season and seem to be just a couple of pieces away from seriously contending within the very near future.
We'll see if Ball is able to have an even better year next season.
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