LaMelo Ball

LaMelo LaFrance Ball ( lə-MEL-oh; August 22, 2001) is an American professional basketball player for the Charlotte Hornets of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He was selected by the Hornets with the third overall pick of the 2020 NBA draft. Ball was voted the NBA Rookie of the Year in 2021 and named an NBA All-Star the following season in 2022.

Ball began high school at Chino Hills High School in Chino Hills, California, where he won a state championship and achieved national success as a freshman with his older brothers Lonzo and LiAngelo. Before his junior season, a coaching dispute prompted him to leave Chino Hills and sign with Lithuanian professional team Prienai. In 2018, he played in the Junior Basketball Association (JBA), a league created by his father, before returning to high school as a senior with SPIRE Academy in Geneva, Ohio. Ball was a five-star recruit and committed to UCLA, but chose to forgo college basketball amid eligibility concerns and play in Australia for the Illawarra Hawks of the National Basketball League (NBL) in 2019. There he had a meteoric rise. Previously, scouts had marked Ball as a second-round pick and potentially never playing in the NBA. However, his success led him to be selected third overall by the Hornets in the 2020 draft.

Ball and his brothers have attracted national attention since playing together in high school. His father, LaVar, also grew into a media personality in 2017. Ball has a signature shoe by his father's company, Big Baller Brand, and a role on his family's Facebook Watch reality show Ball in the Family. His older brother Lonzo Ball is a guard who last played for the Cleveland Cavaliers, and his middle brother LiAngelo Ball is a rapper who is signed to Def Jam Records.

During mid-to-late 2025, several video edits featuring highlights of Ball were popularized on platforms such as TikTok. These edits contained the song Doot Doot (6 7) by Skrilla, which was based on Ball's height of 6 ft 7 in. These were part of the 6-7 meme of 2025.

Early life

Ball was born in Anaheim, California, to LaVar and Tina Ball, who were both former college basketball players.

Ball was trained in basketball by his father, LaVar, as soon as he could walk. At age four, he started playing the sport with his older brothers, Lonzo and LiAngelo, facing much older opponents. He also played flag football with his brothers at age five but continued to focus on basketball. In 2013, while in seventh grade, Ball began playing with his brothers on Big Ballers VXT, a 17-and-under Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) team launched and coached by his parents. The team, which was not sponsored by a major shoe company, did not compete in top AAU circuits and instead took part in local competitions.

High school career

Freshman season (2015–2016)

In his freshman season, Ball started playing basketball for Chino Hills High School in Chino Hills, California. He was teammates with his two older brothers, Lonzo and LiAngelo, and his cousin, Andre Ball. In his first game, Ball scored 27 points as a starter. On March 5, 2016, he scored 26 points in a win over Sierra Canyon School for the CIF Southern Section Open Division title. Later in the month, Ball helped his team capture the CIF Open Division state championship, recording 14 points in the title game against De La Salle High School. Chino Hills finished the season with a 35–0 record and claimed the mythical national championship. Ball averaged 16.4 points and 3.8 assists per game and shared MaxPreps National Freshman of the Year honors with his teammate, Onyeka Okongwu.

Sophomore season (2016–2017)

On December 26, 2016, Ball made national headlines for making a half-court shot two seconds into a game. On February 4, 2017, he suffered his first high school loss despite scoring a game-high 36 points, with Oak Hill Academy ending Chino Hills' 60-game win streak. In his next game, on February 7, Ball scored 92 points in a win over Los Osos High School, the second-most single-game points in California high school history. He was criticized by analysts for cherry picking, as he often waited near half court to get an open shot on his next possession instead of defending. Ball finished the season averaging 26.7 points and almost 10 assists per game, earning MaxPreps Sophomore All-American first team recognition. On July 27, he featured in an AAU game against five-star recruit Zion Williamson that was featured in national sports media.

On October 2, 2017, before his junior season, Ball left Chino Hills to be homeschooled because his father disapproved of newly appointed head coach Dennis Latimore and school administration. On December 7, he signed with agent Harrison Gaines to play professionally overseas alongside his brother LiAngelo. The decision indicated that he would not play college basketball. In the following days, Gaines offered the brothers to professional teams in various European countries and in Japan.

Senior season (2018–2019)

On November 5, 2018, after skipping his junior year and a part of his senior year to play professionally, Ball joined SPIRE Institute and Academy, a prep school in Geneva, Ohio, where he played under head coach Jermaine Jackson. SPIRE competed outside the jurisdiction of the Ohio High School Athletic Association, allowing Ball to play without concerns over his amateur status. A number of prominent high school teams canceled their match-ups with SPIRE because Ball's professional experience would threaten their eligibility under their state federations. His team was removed from the Hoophall Classic tournament because event organizers did not meet a $10,000 request from a Ball family associate in order for Ball to play. On November 10, 2018, Ball debuted for SPIRE, recording 20 points, 13 assists and five rebounds in a 96–84 win over The Hill School. Ball helped his team reach the final and was named season MVP. He was ruled ineligible for the 2019 McDonald's All-American Game due to his professional experience.

Recruiting

Ball verbally committed to play college basketball for UCLA at age 13, before starting high school, becoming the third of his brothers to commit to the school. Ball, who was also recruited by Virginia and Washington State at the time, said that UCLA was his "dream school." He emerged as a top recruit in the 2019 class during his sophomore season in high school. Most recruiting services considered him a five-star recruit and one of the top point guards in his class. When Ball returned to high school after a professional stint in 2018, he remained a five-star recruit.

The 2017 release of Ball's Melo Ball 1 signature shoe by Big Baller Brand, his family's sports apparel company, threatened his eligibility under the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). Ball's father ignored the concerns and considered having his son skip college for that reason. Ball's signing of an agent and his professional experience further imperiled his NCAA eligibility. Despite questions surrounding his eligibility, which discouraged major NCAA Division I programs from recruiting him, he expressed interest in playing college basketball upon his return to high school in November 2018. In the following months, however, Ball explored alternative options, including prep school, the NBA G League and professional leagues in Australia and China.

Professional career

Prienai (2018)

On December 11, 2017, Ball signed with Prienai of the Lithuanian Basketball League (LKL) with his brother, LiAngelo. Ball reportedly became the youngest American to ever sign a professional basketball contract. The brothers' move to Lithuania was heavily reported by American sports media. Prienai withdrew from the Baltic Basketball League upon their arrival and took part in various exhibition games sponsored by Big Baller Brand. On January 13, 2018, Ball made his professional debut, going scoreless in five minutes against Lietkabelis. In the same month, Ball's playstyle was criticized by head coach Virginijus Šeškus, who referred to him as a "little chipmunk". On February 4, he scored a season-high 19 points, with four three-pointers and six assists, in a loss to Žalgiris. In an exhibition game toward the end of the month, he suffered a leg injury that sidelined him for a month. On April 25, Ball left Prienai with his family, with his father criticizing coach Šeškus, in part because Ball did not receive enough playing time. He finished the LKL season averaging 6.5 points and 2.4 assists, shooting 26.8 percent from the field, in 12.8 minutes per game.