Hornets’ Seth Curry claims LaMelo Ball is on par with Anthony Edwards

Ahead of the 2020 NBA Draft, there was a furious debate about which player the Minnesota Timberwolves should take with the No. 1 overall selection. Three players dominated the conversation — James Wiseman, LaMelo Ball, and Anthony Edwards — but ultimately, Minnesota ended up taking Edwards. And while that has proven to be an incredibly wise decision, Charlotte Hornets guard Seth Curry believes that Ball, his teammate, could produce similar results as Edwards if given the same opportunity.

While the Timberwolves went to work assembling a formidable team around Edwards and Karl-Anthony Towns, another first-overall pick, by trading for veterans like Rudy Gobert and Mike Conley Jr., transforming their team into a legitimate championship contender, the Hornets have largely wallowed in mediocrity since Ball's arrival in Charlotte.

The Hornets have not reached the NBA Playoffs since 2015, five years before Ball was drafted, and although Charlotte came relatively close in 2022, the Hornets have been less than inspiring with Ball as their point guard. That's not to completely blame Ball, though, as he was named Rookie of the Year over Edwards in 2021 and became an All-Star in 2022, a year before Edwards earned his first All-Star Game selection.

And while the last two seasons have been marred by injuries, Seth Curry said on Austin Rivers' podcast ‘Off Guard' that Ball can still produce similarly to Edwards, who led his team to the Western Conference Finals this year, and compared him to Devin Booker before Chris Paul was acquired by Phoenix in 2020.

“[If you] put the right team around LaMelo, he can be the best player on a great team,” Curry said.

“I’m agreeing with you,” Rivers replied. “I’m not saying it’s a LaMelo thing, I’m just saying for whatever reason it’s been, injuries, personnel, we have not seen the jump that Anthony Edwards has. They both came in the same year.”

Curry understandably continued to campaign for Ball, saying that if Charlotte had added the right complementary pieces around Ball and Ball had been able to stay healthy, he could win.

“He ain’t that far off,” Curry said of Ball. “It's health and personnel. You put Rudy Gobert, KAT, and that team around — not the same people, but that type of quality of team around LaMelo…”

Anthony Edwards vs. LaMelo Ball stats comparison

While James Wiseman proved he was not ready for the NBA and has struggled with both the Golden State Warriors and Detroit Pistons, Anthony Edwards and LaMelo Ball have shown, to varying degrees, flashes of superstardom. Through their first two seasons, during which Ball edged out Edwards for Rookie of the Year despite playing 21 fewer games and Ball earned an All-Star appearance before Edwards, the debate of which was the better of the two was legitimate.

Here are the stats from their first two seasons in the NBA:

Over the past two seasons, things have changed drastically, with Edwards emerging as one of the brightest stars in the NBA and a potential face of the league. All the meanwhile, Ball has been sidelined for most of the last two years with injuries as the Hornets struggle to win on a nightly basis.

Here are their stats from the last two seasons:

Edwards has been named an All-Star each of the last two seasons, as well as an All-NBA 2nd Team selection this year. Ball, while still obviously incredibly talented, could soon be usurped as Charlotte's best player with Brandon Miller's potential already showing.