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In the weeks and months leading up to the 2020 NBA Draft, questions arose of LaMelo Ball’s maturity levels, work ethic and how seriously he took the game. With no facts to back it up, the claims were largely baseless and went against many of the reports from teammates and coaches in Illawarra.
Ball’s former head coach with the Hawks, Matt Flinn, has been one of his most ardent defenders. During and even after Ball’s half-season in Australia, Flinn consistently complimented Ball’s work ethic and focus and did so once more recently in a profile on Ball for USA Today by Josh Peter and Jeff Zillgitt.
“He is a quintessential gym rat. He’s got an amazing skill set. He works in tight spaces. He’s a great ball handler. He’s ambidextrous when he passes the basketball. But he hadn’t been coached a lot in terms of that real professional team environment.
“When I look back on his journey with us, that’s a proud one because we sort of helped him establish to other people that he can exist in a professional environment.’’
From nearly the minute he stepped onto the court during the preseason in Wollongong, Flinn defended Ball. He called Ball’s love for basketball “infectious,” talked about how hard he practiced and said Ball “sleeps, drink basketball.” Even after Ball left Illawarra and Flinn was relieved as head coach, the compliments still came, showing hard strong an impression Ball left on Flinn.
All of Flinn’s comments mirror those of teammate Aaron Brooks. The former NBA guard spent a handful of games alongside Ball with the Hawks before suffering a season-ending injury. Brooks came into the season expecting Ball to be the prima donna his reputation portrays him as but was blown away by Ball’s commitment to the game as well.
“What surprised me is he was just like a real cool kid. I would have never known he had that many followers (on social media) unless we went out because he was just one of the guys. He had a roommate just like everybody else. He traveled with the team like everybody else. He was just one of the regular guys. When I said we needed to go get some extra work in, he was ready to go get some extra work in. When we had extra running to do, he did extra running. At 18, when I say there’s guy that got drafted in Houston and they were rookies and they were 21 and had less accolades than him and were bigger assholes, for him to be the way he was was surprising to me. Just a good kid, man.”
If Ball is not picked No. 1 overall in the 2020 NBA Draft, it should be due to his on-court skillset and not any off-court concerns. Any concerns about his work ethic and maturity have long been put to bed by those that have spent time on a team around him.