LaMelo Ball's Girlfriend Ana Montana Shares Strong Message After Hornets Play-In Win

The Charlotte Hornets have been arguably the NBA's worst team throughout this century. Even dating back to when they were called the Bobcats (from 2004 to 2013), they only made the playoffs twice and didn't win a single game in either appearance.

The Bobcats became the Hornets after the 2014 season, but the name change didn't inspire much winning. The Hornets' only playoff appearance since then arrived in 2016, when they were bounced in the first round by the Miami Heat.

Charlotte drafted LaMelo Ball (from the notorious Ball family, whose father is LaVar and brothers are Lonzo and LiAngelo) with the third pick of the 2020 NBA Draft, and there was hope Ball would help turn the franchise around.

Charlotte Hornets guard LaMelo Ball (1) | Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images

LaMelo proved to be a star, earning NBA Rookie of the Year honors in the 2021 season. But it still took a few seasons before he could turn the Hornets into a playoff team.

But that has since occurred. The Charlotte Hornets defeated the Miami Heat in overtime, 127-126, to advance in the NBA Play-In Tournament on April 14. Charlotte now plays the winner of the Philadelphia 76ers vs. Orlando Magic game on April 17 to determine whether they'll advance to the proper NBA Playoffs.

Ball was huge in the win, finishing with 30 points while adding 10 assists and 5 rebounds. He was also involved in a controversial moment with star Miami center Bam Adebayo, when Ball seemed to intentionally trip Adebayo after missing a shot and Adebayo was going for the rebound.

Adebayo suffered an injury on the play and didn't return, which likely impacted the game's outcome.

Is this a dirty play by LaMelo? pic.twitter.com/tPebBPDLDC
— NBACentral (@TheDunkCentral) April 15, 2026

Ana Montana Celebrates LaMelo Ball's Hornets Play-In Win vs. Heat

The 24-year-old Ball is dating 36-year-old influencer and model Ana Montana (whose real name is Analicia Chaves). The two have been linked since 2021 but didn't become official until 2023.

Montana didn't seem too irked by the controversial moment between her boyfriend and Adebay. This is proven by her posting a video of Ball doing his postgame press conference with "Victory Lap" by Nipsey Hussle as the audio to her Instagram story shortly after the win Tuesday night.

The post was captioned, "Ahhhhhhhhhhhh soooooooo happy right now Let's Gooooo 🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🙏🏾🙏🏾🙏🏾🙏🏾🙏🏾🙏🏾🙏🏾 GOD IS SO GOOD!!!!!! 🥹🎉".

While the Hornets still need to win one more game before advancing, the franchise is in a better place than it has been for about three decades, largely because of Ball.

Add us as a preferred source on Google