There are questions surrounding LaMelo Ball heading into the 2020 NBA Draft, but those have largely centered around his on-court talents.
Can he knock down threes consistently? Will he improve as a defender? Can he fit next to ball-dominant guards?
The questions that haven’t come up, largely because few exist, are off-court issues. However, Jonathan Wasserman’s latest piece for Bleacher Report mentioned that some talent evaluators have questions about Ball’s demeanor.
“Not every NBA evaluator loves LaMelo Ball, whose shooting and professionalism have been questioned by some around the league, even if they still have him at or near the top of their board.”
Questioning Ball’s professionalism seems like an assumption made on beliefs from years ago. When Ball was in Chino Hills cherry-picking baskets to get to 92 points as a sophomore, those questions about professionalism may have existed.
Since then, and particularly in Illawarra, Ball matured as any teenager would. Every report from his time with the Hawks was positive about his time with the franchise. Teammate Aaron Brooks came into the season with his own preconceived notions about Ball and was proven wrong by his work ethic.
His head coach, Matt Flinn, spoke glowingly about him all season long, including talking about how committed he is to the game. Teammate Tim Coenraad spoke about Ball surpassing expectations during the seasons. Teammate Todd Blanchfield talked about how talented Ball is and the bright future he has.
The amount of positive comments from teammates and essentially everyone associated with Illawarra last season paints a far more expansive and accurate picture of his off-court demeanor.
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