LaMelo Ball's Lasting Legacy in Charlotte

It has been 2,046 days, or five years and seven months, since the Charlotte Hornets ushered in the LaMelo Ball era of the franchise by selecting him with the No. 3 overall pick in the 2020 NBA Draft. Yesterday, Ball, who became the organization's next face after Kemba Walker, was traded to the Minnesota Timberwolves, closing one of the most fascinating chapters in Hornets history.

Ball departs Charlotte as arguably the most offensively talented player the franchise has ever had and, to me, one of the most talented players in franchise history. He leaves as the franchise leader in triple-doubles, second in made three-pointers, fourth in total assists, sixth in total points, and, more than anything, as the defining player of Hornets basketball throughout the 2020s so far.

Yet over six seasons with the Charlotte club, Ball never appeared in a single playoff game. Charlotte reached the Play-In Tournament three times, finished with a 1-3 record, and went 139-164 overall with Ball in the lineup.

So how should Hornets fans and NBA historians look back on Ball's legacy in Charlotte? And what could have been?

Defined by durability

Well, simply put, when Ball was healthy and regularly available, Charlotte was playing relevant basketball. In the three seasons where Ball appeared in more than 50 games, the Hornets were consistently in the Play-In race while fielding top-five to top-10 offenses. During his other three injury-riddled seasons, though, the team's trajectory looked quite different.

During Ball's third and fourth seasons, both under Steve Clifford, he suffered three left ankle sprains, a fractured right ankle, another right ankle strain, and a left calf strain. As those injuries piled up, so did the losses.

Charlotte's entire roster was also ravaged by injuries during those two seasons, and the organization's focus quickly shifted from competing for postseason positioning to prioritizing lottery odds.

Those compiled injuries eventually led to Ball undergoing arthroscopic surgery to address a right ankle impingement during the final month of his fifth season, another campaign that was cut short.

By that point, Charlotte had once again shifted its attention toward draft position for the third straight year, with Ball playing fewer than 48 games, moving several rotation piece veterans at the trade deadline.

Whether you want to call it poor luck or chronic ankle and wrist injuries, half of Ball's six seasons in Charlotte were largely washed away by his unavailability. Looking back, it is a really unfortunate period, and one that I think ultimately helped shape the trade we all witnessed yesterday. Fair or not, questions about whether Ball could consistently hold up over the grind of an 82-game regular season had become conventional wisdom, and I believe that ultimately informed the decision to move him to Minnesota.

Then you get to the three healthiest seasons Ball had. As a rookie in 2020-21, he won NBA Rookie of the Year despite appearing in just 51 games. Ball suited up for the first 41 games of the season before a fractured right wrist sidelined him for 20 contests. He returned for the final 10 games of the regular season as Charlotte earned a Play-In berth before being blown out by the Indiana Pacers.

His other two healthiest seasons came during his second All-Star campaign and this past year, when Ball appeared in 75 and 72 games, respectively. Charlotte won 43 and 44 games in those two seasons, once again playing meaningful basketball down the stretch with one of the league's better offenses.

I say all of that because it is just a massive shame Charlotte never got more seasons with Ball relatively healthy, even if it was just availability similar to his rookie year. The impact his presence had on the Hornets' performance and overall relevance was impossible to ignore. Those rosters during Ball's third through fifth seasons were not overwhelmingly talented to begin with, and once he went down, any realistic chance of competing seriously dissolved.

An offensive superstar

The truly confusing part about trading Ball now is that Charlotte had finally seen the fully realized All-NBA-caliber version of the player both Hornets fans and the organization's brain trust had been hoping he would become. We literally saw it.

During the second half of this past season, Ball led the Hornets to a 31-13 record over their final 44 games while orchestrating one of the league's best offenses. Over that same stretch, Charlotte also posted the NBA's best net rating.

Of course, Charlotte also had the best roster Ball had played with during his six seasons. But we also watched him turn into one of the league's most impactful offensive players. According to dunksandthrees.com's estimated impact on offense per 100 possessions metric, Ball ranked tied for third in the entire NBA last season at +5.9 alongside Luka Dončić. In estimated impact per 100 possessions, Ball ranked seventh in the league, placing him near players such as Giannis Antetokounmpo and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.

According to Cleaning the Glass, Charlotte scored 11.6 more points per 100 possessions with Ball on the floor last season, while the team's effective field goal percentage jumped by 4.5%.

It also needs to be said that we really did see Ball buy in defensively and become more engaged during that 44-game stretch. He became much more of a neutral defender, cut down on the unnecessary fouling and questionable shot selection, and really trimmed the fat from his game.

So if you are asking me, I still think Ball is an ascending player at just 24 years old. Honestly, I think his current legacy in Charlotte will be that he was an absolute fan favorite and one of the best players to ever wear a Hornets uniform.

He loved the city of Charlotte, wanted to be here, never complained, never asked out, and never tried to interfere with the front office doing its job. He was an absolute joy to watch over these past six years and a great face of the franchise. And who knows? He very well could have been the player to end Charlotte's 10-year playoff drought next season.

Going forward, if Ball stays healthy and continues to be the fully realized offensive engine we saw this past season, his legacy in Charlotte will quickly become a story of what could have been.

If that version of Ball is here to stay, this trade will ultimately be remembered as one of the most consequential moments in Charlotte's 38-year history, not because anyone failed to understand why it happened, but because everyone will wonder whether it had to happen at all. And, to me, that is ultimately what Ball's legacy in Charlotte will become.

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