Hornets’ LaMelo Ball Makes Request After Scoring Game-Winner Against Heat

Ball's heroics pushed him one game closer to his first playoff appearance. Following the competition, Cassidy Hubbarth conducted an interview with him, and his teammate awarded him the NBA on Prime's Playmaker Chain. Veteran forward Grant Williams put the chain around the star guard's neck, and he was surprised.

Ball made a request to Hubbarth about keeping the chain.

“I can keep it?” the Hornets star asked. 

Hubbarth confirmed and told Ball that he can keep the chain.

“With a play like that, you deserve that drip. Congrats on the win,” the reporter said. 

The chain presents live video plays from the Hornets' play-in win against the Heat. It can show the highlights from Ball and his team on their way to the second game of the tournament to secure the No. 8 spot in the Eastern Conference.

The one-time All-Star was asked about what he was thinking when he took the layup over Jaime Jaquez Jr.

“I just gotta win the game. I feel like I just [expletive] the game up, so I'm like, ‘It's my fault.’ Gotta make it work.”

Ball had help tonight from his longtime teammate, Miles Bridges. The forward had 28 points, nine rebounds and three blocks. After the NBA star scored on the offensive end, Bridges did not give up on defense and secured the win for the Hornets with a clutch block on Heat guard Davion Mitchell.

The Hornets could make their first appearance in the playoffs this year, and it will be their first since 2016. However, the squad still has to play the team that loses on Wednesday between the Orlando Magic and the Philadelphia 76ers.