current location:HOME > Sports News > Basketball Hub > Text content

LaMelo Ball excited about Hornets' future after inking max extension

nqajqrqw7months ago (05-19)Basketball Hub152

The Charlotte Hornets are building around point guard LaMeloBall and view him as their franchise centerpiece. If this was everin doubt, look no further than the maximum five-year, $260 millionextension that the Hornets recently gave Ball.

Last season, Ball averaged 23.3 points, 8.4 assists, 6.4rebounds, 4.0 threes and 1.3 steals, while shooting 41.1% from thefield, 37.6% from three-point range and 83.6% from the free-throwline. However, injuries kept him sidelined for much of the season,as he only appeared in 36 games last year.

Ball said he's now 100% healthy, and he's excited about thefuture in Charlotte.

“Where we at, I feel like we are all growing together,” Balltold the Associated Press onWednesday. “I think it’s just a great position and I think we areall going the right way now...

“All my years here, I’ve had a good time. Life wasn’t bad. Thebasketball aspect, if that’s not really going well, then you wantto just live your life and have fun. You want to be living well,and in Charlotte I’m doing that. It all just felt like a greatchoice."

Ball is grateful for his big payday. He was one of four playersfrom his draft class to earn a max extension this summer, joiningMinnesota's Anthony Edwards, Indiana's Tyrese Haliburton andMemphis' Desmond Bane.

“Growing up, my pops always said pressure was finding your nextmeal, finding where to sleep, stuff like that. I’m pretty muchblessed," Ball told the AP. "I just have toworry about playing good. Really no problems. I’m straight.”

The next step for the Hornets is to make the playoffs andeventually become a contender.

“We have not had great success as a team, which is somethingthat will change,” Hornets GM Mitch Kupchak told the AP. “To have a playerlike him back with us, just to come back to us, it’sexciting...

“I’m not thinking we necessarily have to add more talent. Ithink the talent we need to get where we want to go is already inthe system. Now, it’s just going to take a little time to geteverybody up to speed and get to where we want to get to. I don’tthink there’s a major area that needs to be addressed.”

Last season, Charlotte went 27-55, which was the second-worstrecord in the Eastern Conference. They won the No. 2 overall pickin the 2023 NBA Draft, selecting Brandon Miller (likely because hefits better alongside Ball moving forward than No. 3 overall pickScoot Henderson would have).

Share with friends:

“LaMelo Ball excited about Hornets' future after inking max extension” ofrelated articles

2024 NBA Playoffs Day 23 Recap: Indiana, Denver tie respective series

The Indiana Pacers and theDenver Nuggets both answered the call after being down 0-2 in theirseries to win their next two games after another big win...

Brandon Miller looks like a franchise cornerstone for the Hornets

On Sunday night, CharlotteHornets rookie Brandon Miller had the best performance of his youngNBA career, scoring a career-high 35 points on 10-of-25 s...

Picking the NBA's Eastern Conference All-Star reserves

With the Eastern ConferenceAll-Star starters set, let’s look at the players who deserve areserve slot for the East All-Star team this season. Check ou...

NBA commissioner Adam Silver nearing contract extension

NBA Commissioner Adam Silver isnearing a contract extension with the NBA, according to ESPN’s AdrianWojnarowski.ANALYSIS:According to the report, the...

Revisiting the time the Mavericks scored just 2 points in a quarter

The article was initially published on BasketballNews onApril 6, 2022.Anyone else love going back and looking at old box scores andfalling down aftern...

Matt Barnes shares why he got into the media and started 'All The Smoke'

Since Matt Barnes retired from the NBA following the 2017 NBAFinals, he's engulfed himself in a very impressive media career.He's spent time as a pane...