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When it comes to the top point guards in the NBA, one name that probably doesn’t get a lot of traction is Charlotte Hornets star LaMelo Ball. Numbers-wise, Ball has been on par with the best guards in the league, there’s only been a couple of problems. One, the Hornets have not had much regular season success, and two, Ball has missed a lot of time due to injury. But to get his name firmly in that conversation next season, LaMelo Ball got a little advice from a former Hornets star in Baron Davis.
During a recent appearance on Paul George’s podcast, ‘Podcast P with Paul George,’ presented by Wave Sports + Entertainment, Baron Davis laid out his advice to Ball coming into the 2025-26 season.
“LaMelo needs to have a goal going into the season. ‘I’m gonna be the top point guard coming out at the end of the season, I’m gonna play 82 games or whatnot, and I’m gonna get my team to the playoffs,’” Davis said. “LaMelo needs stability around him. When you’re trying to win, you got to have some people that stabilize the consistency every day.”
“I think they don’t have, to me, the right mix of veterans, good players and young talented players that have the ability to over-index,” Davis continued. “And that’s why it’s hard for somebody as talented as LaMelo, because what is his direction?”
The No. 3 overall pick in the 2020 NBA Draft, Ball has played five seasons to this point and was selected to the 2022 NBA All-Star team. Not coincidently, Ball’s All-Star season was the last time the Hornets had a winning record. That season was also the most amount of games he’s played in at 75. Since 2021-22, he has not cracked over 47 games in a single season.
This past season, Ball appeared in 47 games at just about 32 minutes per game. He averaged 25.2 points, 4.9 rebounds, 7.4 assists and 1.1 steals with splits of 40.5 percent shooting from the field, 33.9 percent shooting from the three-point line and 84.3 percent shooting from the free-throw line. His points per game was actually a career-high.
Both Davis and George brought up valid points in that it’s a combination of Ball’s on-court focus and the Hornets’ team building that’s played a role in how the outside world’s opinion of him has been shaped. The Hornets did bring in a couple of solid veterans in Mason Plumlee, Spencer Dinwiddie and Pat Connaughton, and they added an explosive option alongside Ball in trading for Collin Sexton.
