Where does LaMelo Ball rank among NBA players?
The Charlotte Hornets guard might be one of the most difficult players to quantify in the sport. On the one hand, he's clearly very gifted and does things no one else does. He also averaged 25 points, nearly five rebounds, and over seven assists per game, a stat line that only Nikola Jokic, Cade Cunningham, and Damian Lillard hovered around or above as well.
On the other hand, Ball shoots a very low percentage and pilots a team that hasn't managed to get out of the lottery in his tenure. His career field-goal percentage is 42.1%. This year, it was 40.5%. From three, he's a little closer to the average, shooting 36.5% for his career, but 33.9% this season.
He's also injured a lot. In five seasons, he's played 231 games. He only played 47 in 2024-25. That all combines to make him a unique but challenging player to assess. Nevertheless, The Ringer did their best to compare him to his peers, landing on him being the 47th-best player in the sport. "The remarkable highlights, the historic numbers—they inspire more questions than answers," Danny Chau said.
"LaMelo’s ranking, then, feels immaterial. His talent is gleaming and irrepressible. His style—loping strides, nonchalant one-legged recliner 3s—is immediately recognizable. But more than anything, what LaMelo needs is a more stable context. Ball has only once played more than 51 games in a season; what if his ankles could hold up to the immense pressure he applies? His stats suggest a perennial All-Star and All-NBA candidate; how might perceptions of him change if, like Devin Booker, his perennially losing team were suddenly built into a contender?" Chau wondered. "LaMelo plays without fear of consequences because, to date, the stakes just haven’t been that high. It’s a nightly acid trip with LaMelo, but we’re still waiting for that moment of clarity."
Chau believes that Ball is undeniably talented. He can do things (and does do them) that no one else can or is willing to try. He's a gifted passer, an unafraid shooter with seemingly limitless range, and a joyous presence on the court. He's just not always on the court, and he often walks out with a loss when he is. That is a criticism that requires a lot of nuance given the status of the overall Hornets roster and coaching staff since drafting Ball, but it is not an inaccurate statement.
Ball was on a torrid pace early on this season, but as teammates dropped around him and he himself cooled off a bit, the numbers tanked. He has to face complex defenses designed solely to stop him because no NBA team is worried about Mark Williams dropping 35 and beating them, with all due respect to a very solid big man. They're much more concerned about Ball going off, so they hurl defensive pressures at him that he has to break down to create for himself and a lackluster gang of teammates.
It results in low-efficiency outings and volume scoring with turnovers, which is a criticism of Ball. Perhaps if the Hornets can finally begin to surround him not only with good but with healthy teammates, he can continue to rise in the player rankings and take Charlotte up the standings with him.
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