LiAngelo Ball shares his plan to make the Charlotte Hornets and stick around the NBA
Practice wrapped up and everyone took a few minutes to get off their feet, plopping down in the chairs scattered around the old gym underneath Cox Pavilion’s main concourse level.
LiAngelo Ball was right along with the rest of the Charlotte Hornets summer league team Tuesday afternoon, collecting himself following their second workout session in three days with a game sandwiched in between. Temperatures outdoors have hovered in the 110s all week, making it feel akin to the inside of a brick oven.
Yet, there’s no place else Ball would rather be than at the NBA’s annual summer showcase with the Hornets for the second year in a row.
“It feels good to be back here again running with my team,” Ball told The Charlotte Observer. “And I’m just looking forward to it and looking forward to the next game and running with them.”
Ball is slowly trying to round himself into form heading into the Hornets’ matchup with Cleveland on Wednesday. He landed in the league’s health and safety protocols just prior to the start of the team’s minicamp preceding their trek out to the desert last week.
It set him back somewhat, forcing him to play catch-up from the moment he arrived here over the weekend following the Hornets’ 96-84 loss to Indiana in their summer league opener on Friday.
“That’s not something I chose,” Ball said. “But it’s just something I had to deal with. I didn’t hang my hat on it, and I just put my head up and got through. I know I wasn’t going to be pretty because I didn’t get any practices leading into this. But like I said, that’s something I just had to deal with. It’s not really my choice.”
After missing the opener, Ball played sparingly in the Hornets’ double-overtime victory over Los Angeles on Sunday night. The 6-foot-5, 230-pound forward was on the floor for a brief stint in the second quarter that lasted 4:59, misfiring on his lone shot — a corner 3-pointer right in front of the Hornets’ bench.
COVID-19 affects everyone differently and it was not easy to jump directly into the action because he’s not in the same kind of basketball shape as others were. Ball’s cardio is something the coaching staff will still have to evaluate the rest of the week.
“He’s a pro,” said Hornets summer league coach Jordan Surenkamp, who also coached Ball with the G League Greensboro Swarm. “He comes in, he works hard every day. We were checking early on to see what his conditioning was like. He has a good grasp of what we are doing just from his experience last year in Greensboro. But the last couple of days in practice, we’ve been able to clean some things up with him, introduce some new concepts and some new plays, some new defensive philosophies that he’s not necessarily used to.
“So, there was a catching-up process. Gelo has bought into doing the right thing and being a pro. It’s always great to have him here. He gives you the shooting and the defensive stuff. You feel like you can play him. So it just will depend on the flow of the game in terms of minutes, as it is with everybody in the rotation.”
Ball understands the situation. He maintains he’ll be ready when Surenkamp puts him into the game.
“Every little chance I get, I’ve got to come in and do everything right and play hard,” he said. “I mean, I can’t worry about coming in and trying to do everything perfect. I just play hard and play with my team and, hopefully, get the win. I didn’t get to practice, like I said. It’s not like I’m coming in trying to know everything. But I’ve got to come in and help my team win. I can’t have no excuses.
“The way I play, I just play hard. I ain’t never really put it in my head like, ‘Oh, I’ve got to be perfect.’ I play for myself and my team. You can control yourself. That’s how I look at it. So, I just go my hardest and then hopefully it will work out.”
Ball suited up for the Swarm following last year’s summer league stint with the Hornets, appearing in 28 games. He averaged 4.2 points in 13.2 minutes per game, shooting 36% from 3-point range.
The experience is something he appreciates.
“I enjoyed it for sure because it’s around the NBA,” Ball said. “I just like playing basketball, so I’m always going to be happy with that situation. But like I said, I’m trying to get better and make the NBA. That’s my main goal. So, I’m just going to keep working every day. But it’s a blessing to be here for sure. I’m still close to the league.”
He would like to be able to reach out and truly touch it one day. There’s things the 23-year-old has to get better at to prove he can hang with those at the pro level and he’s aware of it.
Becoming more well-rounded on both sides of the ball tops his checklist.
“Really, I try to improve in all aspects of the game, but I’m focused in a lot more on defense,” Ball said. “And I know a lot of NBA teams want to start off and see defense. If I play my hardest ‘D,’ I feel like my offense will come. I’m not really struggling with that. But on defense, I’ll pick it up.”
Among his biggest supporters throughout this journey, besides his father, LaVar, and mother, Tina, sitting courtside at the Hornets’ summer league games: LaMelo Ball. The two are close and the constant encouragement to chase his dream is something LiAngelo doesn’t take lightly.
Being a short ride away on I-85 during the G League season didn’t hurt, either.
“It helps for sure,” Ball said. “That’s the dude I grew up with. I see Melo every day, talk to him every day. So that’s still my brother at the end of the day even though he’s in the league. But yeah, it’s cool having him there, man.
“S---, feels like home for real. I don’t know how to describe it. It feels like home. When I’m in Charlotte, I’ll be kicking it with him, playing basketball, doing all that stuff. It’s always good having a brother in the NBA.”
Just don’t think it’s weird for Ball to have two siblings who’ve ascended to the league’s bright lights rather rapidly. LaMelo Ball is an All-Star who’s doing national commercials and Lonzo Ball was one of the most coveted free agents a year ago before landing in Chicago.
LiAngelo Ball recalls the days of chores mixed around activities, the types of things that typically occur in a family with three boys who are not too far apart in age.
“Yeah, we all grew up doing the same stuff,” Ball said. “Like I’m a star, too, if you ask me. I don’t really look at them like, ‘Oh, that’s Lonzo, and Melo!’ You feel me? It’s like those are my cousins at the end of the day. I grew up doing everything they did. Played the same basketball games, all that. Same moves. So, it’s just fun being around them.”
His goal is to say the same thing soon while wearing a team-issued Charlotte jersey.
“Playing to get me a main shot with the Hornets,” Ball said. “So, I’m just playing for that right now. I take it day by day; I don’t really look too far ahead. I just do everything hard and take it day by day.”
This story was originally published July 13, 2022 at 6:30 AM with the headline "LiAngelo Ball shares his plan to make the Charlotte Hornets and stick around the NBA."
