LaMelo LaFrance Ball (born August 22, 2001) is an American professional basketball player who plays for the Charlotte Hornets of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The Hornets selected him with the third selection overall in the 2020 NBA draft. Ball was voted as the NBA Rookie of the Year in 2021 and selected as an NBA All-Star the following season in 2022.Ball started high school at Chino Hills High School in Chino Hills, California, where he was the winner of the state championship as well as national recognition when he was a freshman along with his two older brothers Lonzo and LiAngelo. Prior to his junior season, a coaching dispute prompted him to leave Chino Hills and sign with Lithuanian professional team Prienai. In 2018, he participated in the Junior Basketball Association (JBA) which was a league founded by his father. He then returning to high school in the year he was an senior at SPIRE Academy in Geneva, Ohio. Ball was a five-star college recruit and was a committed player at UCLA however, he decided to forgo college basketball amid concerns about eligibility and join Australia with the Illawarra Hawks of the National Basketball League (NBL) in the year 2019. He experienced a rapid climb. Previously, scouts had ridiculed Ball as the second-round pick, and a possibility of never making it into the NBA.
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