lBefore making heads turn in the NBA with his flashy playstyle, Charlotte Hornets star LaMelo Ball was a child prodigy, destroying players significantly older than him on the basketball court. He was a viral sensation on social media for over half a decade before he was drafted third overall in the 2020 NBA draft.
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One of Slam Magazine’s X accounts, formerly called Twitter, shared a clip a near-decade-old clip of LaMelo dominating at the Adidas Super 64 Tournament. While the tournament usually features high school students, the Hornets star played alongside brothers Lonzo and LiAngelo despite being only 13. However, that did affect his performance.
In the clip, LaMelo can be seen showing off his shooting prowess and his impeccable offensive skillset. He’s finishing at the rim, hitting stepback three-pointers, taking and hitting shots from way behind the three-point line, and dominating players much more physically developed than him. While he was wearing jersey number 35 in this clip, probably as a homage to Kevin Durant, he was moving and shooting like Stephen Curry.
LaMelo finished the game shooting 11-of-18 from the field, including 7-of-13 from beyond the arc, for 32 points. An outstanding performance that gave the world a glimpse of things to come.
LaMelo Ball’s unconventional route to the NBA
Even when LaMelo Ball was a high school star, there was little doubt that he would be a future NBA star. However, his father, the controversial LaVar Ball, made his youngest son take an unconventional route to the NBA.
After spending two years in high school, Ball signed with Lithiuanian team Prienai in December 2017 and played in the Lithuanian Basketball League alongside his brother LiAngelo. He spent four months with the team and averaged 6.5 points, and 2.4 assists in 12.8 minutes per game, before leaving the team citing a lack of playing time.
LaMelo later joined the Los Angeles Ballers in the Junior Basketball Association, a league founded by his father. He spent six months on that team and led them to the JBA title, before heading to Europe with the league’s All-Star team called JBA USA to play exhibition games against professional European teams.
Ball returned to high school for his senior year and after graduating, he skipped college and played professionally again in the Australian-based National Basketball League for the Illawarra Hawks. The 18-year-old had signed a two-year deal with the team in June 2019 but returned to the US in January 2020 to prepare for the NBA Draft. He played 12 games in the NBL and averaged 17 points, 7.4 rebounds and 6.8 assists. He was named the league’s Rookie of the Year.
Ball’s exploits in the NBL worked wonders. His draft stock skyrocketed and was projected to be a second-round pick but climbed to the top of the mock draft boards. He was expected to be picked second by the Golden State Warriors or third by the Charlotte Hornets. The Warriors passed on him for center James Wiseman paving the way for the Hornets to land the young guard.
The Warriors would end up regretting their decision. While Wiseman failed to live up to his hype, Ball won the Rookie of the Year and has become one of the best young guards in the league. Despite his eccentric route, the youngest Ball brother turned out to be the best player in the family.
