Efficiency Does Not Matter for Charlotte Hornets Star LaMelo Ball

Two questions have plagued Charlotte Hornets guard LaMelo Ball since he entered the NBA. Can he stay healthy, and can he be an efficient shooter? He's played 59.4% of the possible games since he was drafted.

His career field goal percentage is 41.8%, and his three-point percentage 36.5%. This is on high volume (17.5 shots per game), which implies that his scoring averages were more a product of a lot of shots than being good at shotmaking.

The health factor is one thing, but it doesn't require anything from Ball's game. Efficiency is another, and it required Ball to be more selective with his shots and smarter with them.

Most fans of his would have argued that the lack of talent around him meant he both needed to shoot a ton and shoot bad shots sometimes.

But this year, he's got Kon Knueppel, Coby White (for a game so far), Brandon Miller, and Miles Bridges. He has options that should help him shoot less and enjoy more spacing. His efficiency hasn't gone up.

He's shooting 40.1% from the field, which is the lowest mark of his career. He is shooting 36.7% from three, though. Still, those aren't efficient numbers, so why didn't the increase in help around him bring those numbers up?

Charlotte Hornets guard LaMelo Ball (1) dribbles against Cleveland Cavaliers forward Dean Wade | Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images

That's a story for another day, but it also doesn't matter. Efficiency matters for a lot of players in the modern NBA, but it doesn't for Ball. The advanced stats prove this to be true. He's shooting an awful percentage, but he's got a 123.1 offensive rating.

Aside from Coby White in one game, that's the best mark on the team. It's better than:

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander
Jalen Brunson
Giannis Antetokounmpo
James Harden
Joel Embiid
Karl-Anthony Towns
Anthony Edwards
Cade Cunningham
Luka Doncic

Basically, the only real star with a better offensive rating in the entire NBA is Nikola Jokic. Everyone else above Ball is either a role player, someone with sparing minutes, or Jamal Murray.

If we compared efficiency metrics, Ball would pale in comparison to most of those names above. Efficiency just doesn't seem to matter for his offensive performance, and the advanced stats bear that out.

Among players with 1,000 minutes, only Jokic has a better on/off split. The Hornets are 14.5 points better when he's on the floor. That's despite shooting so poorly quite often.

How is this possible? If you can believe it, Ball's "poor" shot selection probably helps this factor. Defenses know he can and will shoot from literally anywhere. There's only a modest chance those shots will go in, but they can't leave him open from anywhere.

That puts a huge strain on the defense, and they're already fairly spaced because of Brandon Miller, Kon Knueppel, Miles Bridges, or Coby White when those players are on the floor. Even Grant Williams and Josh Green are threats.

The defense can't rest when Ball is on the floor, knowing he might shoot from 35 feet if he feels like it. That opens things up for everyone, including himself, which is why he's such a good offensive player despite shooting well below league average.