On Thursday, a concerning development for the Charlotte Hornets occurred when reports surfaced from Kelly Iko of Yahoo Sports, who published a report saying that “star guard LaMelo Ball has grown increasingly frustrated with the organization and is open to a trade.” The development occurred amid a rough start to the season for the Hornets, which included a rough loss to the Indiana Pacers on Wednesday night.

Later in the day on Thursday, Ball took to X, formerly Twitter, with a seeming denial of the rumors, quote tweeting Iko's original post with a clown emoji.

At this point, it might be understandable for Ball and the Hornets to have mutual interest in parting ways. The Hornets have not appeared in a playoff game since drafting Ball in the first round of the 2020 NBA Draft, and although the former Chino Hills standout has produced some electric highlights and jaw-dropping stat lines over the last half decade, he's also been unable to stay on the floor with any consistency, and hasn't improved his defense much at all.

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This year, the Hornets have at least one beacon of future hope in the form of rookie Kon Knueppel, but it's unclear what exactly the franchise's long term vision is for building around Ball, if they still view him as their franchise's cornerstone at all.

Still, with this latest post, it seems that Ball is reaffirming his commitment to the Hornets, even as the struggles continue.

In any case, the Hornets will next take the floor on Saturday afternoon for a home game against the Los Angeles Clippers at 1:00 pm ET.