The Charlotte Hornets have been an NBA laughingstock for a while, but they’re hoping to get off the ground and gain some respectability this coming season.
Their greatest asset is guard LaMelo Ball, who could be on the verge of full-fledged stardom at the age of 22.
He recently got a new set of tattoos per Ball Don’t Lie, and they’re looking fresh.
New ink for LaMelo 🥶
(via @RockRollG) pic.twitter.com/5Q6hnmYqVy
— Ball Don’t Lie (@Balldontlie) September 20, 2023
Ball averaged 23.3 points, 8.4 assists, and 6.4 rebounds a game last season, and at 6-foot-7, he also has the potential to be a difference-maker on the defensive end.
However, he appeared in just 36 games during the 2022-23 campaign because of a fractured right ankle, and it may have been the one thing that prevented him from making the All-Star team for a second year in a row.
Charlotte won just 27 games last year, and they haven’t made the playoffs since 2016 — in fact, since their inception during the 2004-05 season, they have reached the playoffs only three times.
The hope is that Ball’s progression, along with the development of other players, such as No. 3 overall draft pick Brandon Miller, plus some good health could earn them at least a play-in tournament berth.
They do have a few other productive players, such as guard Terry Rozier, forward P.J. Washington, and big man Miles Bridges.
But making the playoffs or the play-in tournament will be difficult, as the Eastern Conference will be difficult and perhaps as strong as it has been in over 30 years.
Fans should be patient with the Hornets — as the old saying goes, Rome wasn’t built in a day.
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