LaMelo Ball gets eye-popping money from Hornets on new extension

Jan 8, 2022; Charlotte, North Carolina, USA; Charlotte Hornets guard LaMelo Ball (2) reacts after making a three point basket against the Milwaukee Bucks during the second period at the Spectrum Center. Mandatory Credit: Jim Dedmon-USA TODAY Sports

LaMelo Ball is securing his generational wealth … and then some.

The star point guard Ball is finalizing a five-year designated maximum contract extension with the Charlotte Hornets, Shams Charania of The Athletic reported on Saturday. Ball’s new extension will be worth up to (seatbelts fastened?) $260 million.

For Ball, the 21-year-old cornerstone of the Hornets, the deal is on par with the max rookie scale extension that fellow 2020 draftee Tyrese Haliburton just got from the Indiana Pacers (five years and up to $260 million as well).

An average annual value of roughly $50 million is truly rarefied air. In the entire NBA, only Steph Curry will be making that much money next season (though players like Nikola Jokic, Bradley Beal, and Joel Embiid will be joining the $50 million/year club within the next couple of seasons).

Ball, the NBA Rookie of the Year in 2021 as well as an NBA All-Star in 2022, obviously has a very long way to go to measure up with those guys. But Ball is already a 23-6-8 guy who looks poised to be the alpha dog in Charlotte for years to come. Meanwhile, the Hornets are a non-free agent destination in a small market, so the right business call is indeed to pay up and secure their exciting young franchise player through his age-26 season.

The risk for Ball is also there since he missed over half of last season due to persistent ankle injuries (including a fracture in February). But Charlotte is obviously comfortable taking the gamble, and now Ball has plenty of capital to fund more really terrible jewelry for himself.