ESPN reveals incredible story about LaMelo Ball and the Charlotte Hornets and a ritual in their practice facility
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A year ago, the play-in tournament was a completely new concept. Teams that had finished between the 7th and 10th seeds at the end of the regular season would enter into a one-off tournament. There would be two winners, who would receive the 7th and 8th seed, and enter the NBA playoffs from their respective conferences.
During this time, the Charlotte Hornets entered the playoffs as the 10th seed. And well, let’s just say they got their butt handed to them by the Indiana Pacers, with the game ending with a score of 117-144.
Heck, they lost so badly, Indiana’s Oshae Brissett even did this… in the middle of the game!
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It was a cruel reminder to LaMelo Ball and his crew that the intensity of playoff basketball was a wildly different one to that of the regular season. And as ESPN recently reported, it seems that the team hasn’t even come close to forgetting the humiliation that ended their season.
Let’s get into it, shall we?
LaMelo Ball and the Charlotte Hornets are forced to look at the score against the Pacers from the 2021 NBA Play in tournament
This season, LaMelo Ball is averaging 28.3 points, 10.5 rebounds, 9.3 assists, and 1.3 steals against the Pacers. Miles Bridges records about 16.3 points and 6.2 rebounds against them. And Terry Rozier gets an impressive 21.7 points, 4.7 rebounds, and 3.0 assists.
The fact that these three average these incredible numbers against the Pacers is no coincidence. Heck, them going 4-0 against that same team this season is no coincidence.
Why, you ask? Well then, take a look at the tweet below.
Really interesting story from ESPN:
Hornets have their play-in game score last year against the Pacers hanging in their practice facility. pic.twitter.com/OxXwoWMq2S
— Dylan Jackson (@TheJacksonDylan) January 29, 2022
We aren’t sure we know if that is a sign of supreme grit or just extreme pettiness. If there is one thing we do know though, is that we absolutely love to see it, especially from a young, rising team in the NBA.