Basketball

Is LaMelo Ball Playing Tonight vs Warriors? Hornets Star’s Season Debut Could Excruciatingly Be Delayed Once Again

Tonoy Sengupta
|PublishedOct 29, 2022

Is LaMelo Ball Playing Tonight vs Warriors? Hornets Star's Season Debut Could Excruciatingly Be Delayed Once Again

Oct 28, 2022; Orlando, Florida, USA; Charlotte Hornets guard LaMelo Ball (1) warms up prior to a game against the Orlando Magic at Amway Center. Mandatory Credit: Rich Storry-USA TODAY Sports

LaMelo Ball hasn’t played an NBA game in some time now.

Close to the end of this past NBA preseason, the young man was starting to recover from the rocky start, and starting to look like himself again. But then, disaster struck.

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As consequence, LaMelo Ball was diagnosed with having suffered a Grade 2 high ankle sprain. But, at the time, he was expected to get back just a few games into the season.

It has been a little over two weeks since that diagnosis. The NBA Regular season has already begun and the Hornets will play their 6^th game tonight, which will come against the Golden State Warriors.

Will LaMelo Ball finally return to the Charlotte Hornets’ line-up tonight?

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LaMelo Ball is doubtful at best to play against the Golden State Warriors

Earlier reports had stated that LaMelo Ball has been ready to go for a few days now.

The only reason he missed the last couple of games was said to be due to his being saved for this game against the Dubs, as per the same reports. However, as unfortunate as they may be, the signs no longer look so fortunate.

At the time of writing, ESPN still lists the Hornets star as ‘Out’, and the Hornets haven’t really included him in promotional material either.

Frankly, the only reason he has been called ‘doubtful’ for this game, is due to the fact that he is still likely a game-time decision. However, even then it really doesn’t seem likely he will be allowed to face off in this big fixture against Stephen Curry and the Warriors.

To be honest, it’s a real shame.

So, when will LaMelo Ball return?

If LaMelo Ball does indeed stay on the sidelines against the Warriors, it would play as an indicator of one massive fact – the Hornets are playing this conservatively.

In this case, Charlotte will likely play this overly safe, giving Ball all the time, he needs to heal up properly.

If this thinking is followed, it is likely we won’t be seeing LaMelo Ball until the first week of November.

This would schedule his season debut to potentially be against the Nets, all the way ahead on the 4^th of October.

Settle in, Hornets fans. This might take a while.

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About the author

Tonoy Sengupta

Tonoy Sengupta is a Senior Editor at The SportsRush. Coming from an athletically inclined family, he has been surrounded by sports ever since he was 4 years old. But, while initially pouring all his time into Football (soccer), at 14, Tonoy discovered basketball through the countless highlights of Stephen Curry humiliating players from Curry Land. And just like that, a fiery passion for the game was ignited within Tonoy. And soon after, he decided to become a student of journalism, graduating in 2022, and choosing sports as his area of interest. Today, you can find him spending 99% of his time browsing through every type of content on every team in the NBA, before uncorking everything he has found to the world. In the 1% he isn't doing this, you can find him playing Basketball, Football, Volleyball, or practically any other sport he has had the opportunity to learn.