LaMelo Ball is about to enter his second season with the Charlotte Hornets, but there may be plenty more of them to come.
The Hornets guard spoke this week with Joe Vardon of The Athletic and offered a hint about his longer-term future with the team.
“I feel like I still kind of got that mentality that they had back in the day,” said Ball. “Even with the switching teams and stuff, they never used to do that. You go to one team, you stay there.
“[You’re] supposed to just go to a team and build from there,” the reigning Rookie of the Year continued. “I feel like that’s how it should be. Especially when [you’re] like a high pick too, most likely going to a team that wasn’t as good, so you try to make them better. I feel like that’s the whole process right there.”
Of course, it’s easy for the 21-year-old Ball to be starry-eyed at this point of his basketball journey. But circumstances change very quickly in the NBA. Teammates leave, coaches and/or executives come and go, and high-flying teams can go from playoff contenders to bottom feeders faster than you can say “Antetokounmpo.”
Stil, it sounds like there is a lot of appeal for Ball in building something from the ground up in Charlotte under the leadership of owner Michael Jordan. As it currently stands, the dynamic guard is under contract through at least 2024. The Hornets will be hoping that Ball sticks around for the long haul and does not have any big city dreams, as had previously been rumored about him.
Photo: Jul 5, 2019; Las Vegas, NV, USA; Basketball player LaMelo Ball in attendance of the New Orleans Pelicans against the New York Knicks game during the NBA Summer League at Thomas & Mack Center. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports
