LiAngelo Ball is on the cusp of making an NBA roster. While nothing's for certain until he plays his first minute on the hardwood next season, the Charlotte Hornets certainly seem keen on giving him a fair shake.
The path for Gelo Ball to get to this point has been littered with a few stumbling blocks along the way. The most infamous one was getting suspended from UCLA, and eventually withdrawing entirely, after getting caught shoplifting a pair of Louis Vuitton sunglasses during the team's trip to China in 2017.
LiAngelo Ball left the Bruins without ever playing a single minute for the team. According to him, the incident shaped him into the player he is today. In a recent sit-down interview with The Athletic's Shams Charania, Ball spoke candidly about the incident almost four years later.
Via The Athletic:
“It made me who I am today,” said LiAngelo Ball. “I done dealt with so much. I done heard everything — good and bad. Nothing really bothers me. My skin is thick. When I play today, I just keep that same energy. For sure, people cast judgment. I was young, I don’t look back on that. I just learned from it and kept pushing. I’m not gonna let one decision mess up my whole life.”
LiAngelo Ball is a few breaks away from erasing the stain of that incident and officially becoming an NBA player. While his brothers entered the league on a red carpet as top-three prospects, Gelo has had a much more arduous journey, and by all accounts he has put in the work to deserve a shot.
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