Oct 11, 2025; Dallas, Texas, USA; Charlotte Hornets guard Lamelo Ball (1) brings the ball up court against the Dallas Mavericks in the first half of a game at American Airlines Center. Mandatory Credit: Raymond Carlin III-Imagn Images Raymond Carlin III-Imagn Images

Analyst's Charlotte Hornets implosion prediction is sadly accurate

Originally posted on Charlotte Hornets on SI
By Zach Roberts | Last updated Oct 13, 2025 12:13 PM ET

What has been the biggest problem for the Charlotte Hornets in the 2020s? It has arguably been their health, or more accurately, their lack thereof. They have had three potential franchise cornerstones come in during that time in LaMelo Ball, Brandon Miller, and Mark Williams. Those three have combined for two seasons with 70 or more games played.

Though Ball has one of the two, he is the poster boy for this. He's been in the league longer than the other two, and he's struggled almost every year to stay healthy. The biggest caveat surrounding the Hornets has always been his health, and if things go wrong this year, one analyst believes that will be the catalyst once more. He's sadly spot on with that assessment.

Analyst is perfectly accurate about what could go wrong for Hornets

If things go wrong this year for the Charlotte Hornets, it's probably going to be because LaMelo Ball went down. His games played total is probably directly linked with this team's ceiling. Sure, the floor is higher because the talent threshold has improved this offseason, but without the best player, the ceiling drops.

Bleacher Report's Zach Buckley wrote, "The return of a healthy Brandon Miller and arrival of No. 4 pick Kon Knueppel should give the Hornets a bit of buzz back. What will ultimately determine whether they have any sting, though, is the availability of franchise centerpiece LaMelo Ball."

What ultimately matters most here is not that Ball is a walking highlight reel and one of the most followed athletes in the world, Buckley believes. Rather, it's that he remains the most creative passer and scorer this team has, and there's really no one close in either category.

But the health matters most of all. "He's also someone who has topped 51 games in just one of his first five NBA seasons," Buckley continued. "If he can't do a (much) better job of avoiding the injury bug, Charlotte will struggle to be even an afterthought in the play-in race."

The flip side of this is that Buckley believes that a healthy Ball means Charlotte can hang around the 10 seed in the East, which is true. He's right on both accounts. If Ball gets hurt, the team won't spiral to a top-three worst record because they're too deep, but they won't be very good. If he's healthy, then the team could reach heights they haven't since Kemba Walker was around.