LaMelo Ball Had One-Emoji Response to Report He’s ‘Open’ to Trade From Hornets

Karl Rasmussen | Nov 20, 2025

Charlotte Hornets guard LaMelo Ball responded to a report he was open to a trade. / Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images

An eye-opening report from Kelly Iko of Yahoo! Sports indicated that Hornets guard LaMelo Ball was growing “increasingly frustrated” with the team amid its 4–11 start, and would be “open to” a trade out of Charlotte.

It seems Ball himself has caught wind of those reports, and he was quick to nip it in the bud. Ball saw the report on X, formerly Twitter, and quote tweeted it with a clown-face emoji, effectively suggesting there was no truth to the report.

🤡 https://t.co/JFzW4alF0k

— Melo (@MELOD1P) November 20, 2025

The report comes one day after Ball was benched late in the fourth quarter of the Hornets’ game against the Pacers. It was Charlotte’s fourth consecutive loss, and they’ve sunk to 12th in the East. Ball is averaging 21.6 points, 9.6 assists and 6.9 rebounds per game across nine contests.

Ball, who was the No. 3 pick in the 2020 NBA draft, is in his sixth season with the Hornets. He’s played in 240 games in his career, but has not been to the playoffs. Charlotte has had a winning record just once in Ball’s tenure with the franchise, and haven’t won more than 27 games since the 2021-22 season.

The 24-year-old is under contract with the Hornets through the 2028-29 season. He’s in the second year of a five-year, $203.8 million contract with the franchise and is making $37.95 million this year.

As for a trade away from the franchise, that would be quite a difficult move to maneuver given his lofty contract, and based on Ball’s tweet, he doesn’t appear to want out of Charlotte.

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