The Charlotte Hornets brought in LaMelo Ball not just for his elite playmaking, something head coach James Borrego has mentioned in the past, but to also be a culture-setter. Going against how many outsiders view him, Ball’s attitude and approach to the game were specifically mentioned by Borrego.
“If a player is willing to be coached and wants to be great and has the work ethic and the drive to do it, the sky’s the limit for them and (LaMelo) has that ability,” Borrego said. “I want all our guys – I don’t want it to just be LaMelo – I want all our guys to have this drive. We want a culture of guys that reflect this and LaMelo fits that to a T. This a guy that wants to be great. He doesn’t just talk about it, he lives it. He’s got an infectious spirit.
“This is a young man that is infectious. His spirit, his energy, his desire to be great, his desire to make the most of and get the most out of the players around him, I think that excites me. For me, it’s a joy to have someone in the program that we’ve added, I’m not going to have wear this guy out to get in the gym. He’s just in the gym, he wants to be in the gym.”
Hornets president of basketball operations Mitch Kupchak, who also shared a story of Ball’s first night with the Hornets in which, after finishing up a dinner with the Hornets brass, immediately went to the gym to workout that night, discussed how Ball’s experience playing professionally makes him a non-traditional rookie.
“I also know that he’s not the typical rookie who went from high school, the AAU program to a top level college where he maybe was overly pampered then came out as a freshman,” he said. “The Australian league is a very good league and the Lithuanian league is not as good but those guys are men. They’re not 19- and 20-year-old high school, college players, they’re men. Some of those guys are 28, 30, 32 years old and they’re not going to let a young kid just come in and take the show. You have to earn your respect so he’s a little bit further ahead in terms of the level of physicality and what it’s like to play against an older person so I think that bodes well for him.”
Instead of coming in to simply sit back in the shadows and learn his way into a prominent role with the team, Ball seems set to be a leader of sorts – as much as a 19-year old rookie can be – with the Hornets this season. While he won’t be a vocal leader, his actions have already gained the attention of Borrego and Kupchak and his teammates may soon follow.