LaMelephant: The LaMelo Ball Thread (#2)

[Braggins]

Non-contact. Doesn't twist his ankle. Just plants his foot on a normal low-intensity step back move and his ankle fractures.

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[luciano-davidwesley]

Non-contact. Doesn't twist his ankle. Just plants his foot on a normal low-intensity step back move and his ankle fractures.

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It's alarming how easily the ankle fractured. Massive red flag

[Snidely FC]

Bad news, man. Hate to see our young star keep getting hurt. Not sure how people can blame anyone for someone fracturing a bone. Just hope he gets completely well soon

[wilson115]

Playing with fire finally burnt us.

Guy had multiple ankle injuries and we kept playing him despite being a bottom 5 team.

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Hopefully this doesn't become an issue long term.

Against a team that left half their players at home. For what? Appearances? Moral victories? Ticket sales? Pathetic.

[yosemiteben]

So are we saying Melo shouldn't have been played for the rest of the season? Dude still needs to develop, very much don't agree that we should be shelving him if he feels healthy and gets cleared by our medical staff.

[countryboi]

the idea that you can babysit players is silly, these guys play ball for a living and most of them want nothing more than to hoop. I know dudes that are ready to die on the court at the YMCA. Now i don't know Melo but he seems like the type that if he thinks he can play, he is going to play.

[Hornet Mania]

What Melo did was something that could have happened in a low-intensity practice or personal workout. Just a freak accident, although I do agree it makes me concerned about whether his body will hold up over time. Unless the argument is Melo should do nothing but sit on the couch until next October this was not the medical staff's fault imo.

[bubowskee]

I do think there is a case to be made that the Hornets have not adequately cared for LaMelo's injuries this season. Repeated injuries to his left ankle just to be playing as soon as possible to then hurt again is questionable. Severely injuring the other ankle isnt surprising when doctors and trainers both are aware that athletes will compensate for the injured leg by putting more pressure on the healthy one.

While this is a freak injury, there is reason to think it is connected to Ball's repeated ankle problems this season. And considering our record, we should be asking why we kept hurrying him back as opposed to getting fully healthy. The other bad teams in the league don't rush their young guys back, just us. Heck, look at how we treated Hayward the last two years with Borrego. He was treated with far more caution than LaMelo this year.

[SWedd523]

So are we saying Melo shouldn't have been played for the rest of the season? Dude still needs to develop, very much don't agree that we should be shelving him if he feels healthy and gets cleared by our medical staff.

Agreed... some of these takes are borderline silly

[Soul Rebel]

I don't see how the previous injuries and not resting led to this injury.

What I DO see and am concerned about Melo's future is the footwear that he plays on night in and night out. Beginning to wonder if Puma is an expertly constructed sneaker for a player of his shiftiness.

[wilson115]

Like many NBA players, Ball wears low tops and no ankle braces.

“I haven’t really looked into that yet,” Ball said when asked if he’s considering ankle braces. “I gotta see how I feel first when I come back. Then I will make a decision.”

Ball, who has relatively thin legs, said he wants to build more overall strength in his ankles this offseason and make sure they’re fully healed, including the bones that have been repaired when he came down wrong on his foot during a non-contact play on Feb. 27.

https://www.nba.com/news/hornets-lamelo-ball-injury-return-training-camp-2023-24-season

[Rich4114]

He apparently also said how excited he is for the future of the Hornets and that he loves it in Charlotte. Media and stans will surely speculate, but he’s always said things like that since he’s been drafted. Lock him up with the max, we may never get another player like him again.

[fatlever]

first cracks forming

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He reiterates that he likes Charlotte but "he'll play it by the day" and you can't predict the future.

[JDR720]

if we're not good next season, he'll probably request a trade.

[Bassman]

Sowing the seeds…

Ball is not going to be here if he doesn’t have massive individual and team success, plus guys he deeply cares about. Personally, I think he wants a big market and no amount of good vibes/average team performance will do it. We would be smart to consider dealing him for a huge windfall package.

I’m also convinced he is more fragile than most players. The Ball family appears to suffer injury consistently.

Lastly I don’t think LaMelo has the mental or character toughness needed to be a leader.

[SWedd523]

One side of that coin is that nobody should be surprised. The Ball thing from the start has been about flashy, showy, loud, media centric. Being in a small market and not seeing success would obviously lead to a negative outcome. "If I'm going to be on a bad team, I can at least be in a big market". Don't necessarily blame him if he feels that way.

The team has bee dysfunctional since he showed up. Going all in on guys like Gordo and Terry who either can't stay healthy or don't fit. The Miles implosion, Atkinson embarrassment, bringing in an old-retread who has never had success in the league, two straight play-in blowouts, terrible team his third year, even he can't stay healthy. Now MJ is looking to sell and the FO has been dookie throughout.

If you were a bright young star, would you want to stay long term with a team that hasn't won a single playoff game in two decades? Truly embarrassing.

[SWedd523]

The other side: he hasn't exactly proven to be "That Guy" yet. Defense has gotten worse, attacking the basket less, still not drawing fouls, not imparting his will on games like a Star needs to. Now there are long term concerns about his wrist and ankle.

Is he a Top-10-in-the-League kind of guy? If not, do we need to supermax him if he's not capable of being a lead guy in a playoff run?

Hard to tell since everything around him has been hot garbage, but the questions are there, and a smart GM would probably quietly listen to offers.

[HornetJail]

this screams "get me some help" and "bring back my friend Miles Bridges" to me

[LofJ]

I get being in a prove me wrong frame of mind when it comes to this team. But man the team is in a position to add a massive amount of talent to the roster this season. And if we get new ownership they aren't going to cheap out. These aren't the Kemba/Batum/Cho years where we're treading water to stay alive on a boat we can't stop from sinking. Now that **** was depressing, we aren't in a situation like that thankfully.

[fatlever]

https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/36149408/hornets-start-winning-keep-lamelo-ball-says-steve-clifford