LaMelo Ball is apparently a repeat offender when it comes to tripping Bam Adebayo.
The Charlotte Hornets guard made negative headlines Tuesday for injuring the Miami Heat center during their play-in tournament game at Spectrum Center in Charlotte, N.C. Adebayo was falling toward the baseline when Ball swiped at his legs, resulting in Bam crashing hard on his lower back (video here).
Adebayo suffered a back injury that kept him out for the rest of the game, which the Heat lost in overtime 127-126.
After the game, footage of Ball doing something similar to Adebayo resurfaced on social media. Ball visibly grabbed at Bam’s leg as the big man was running back down the court.
This is the SECOND time this season Lamelo tripped Bam 🤔 pic.twitter.com/xvfgDN4V5s
— BrickCenter (@BrickCenter_) April 15, 2026
What made Tuesday’s instance much worse was that Adebayo was already off balance when Ball swept his legs, resulting in a hard fall on a prone area.
Contrary to the post’s caption, the past incident did not happen earlier this season. Given Miami’s players were wearing their old City Edition “Culture” uniforms, the game in question happened during the 2023-24 campaign. But it doesn’t make it any less damning that Ball has a tendency to dangerously trip opponents.
“I apologize on that one,” Ball said during his postgame press conference. “I got hit in the head, didn’t really know where I was, but I’mma check on him and see if he’s okay and everything.”
Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra said Ball deserved to be ejected for the dirty move. Ball instead stayed on the floor up until he made the game-winning floater to beat the Heat sand Adebayo in OT.
