What’s next for LaMelo Ball? In Year 2, he’ll have to lead the Hornets from the front

To manage a talent like LaMelo Ball is both a great privilege and a great responsibility.

The Charlotte Hornets point guard was voted the NBA’s Rookie of the Year last season, making such a spectacular, highlight-friendly debut that the team was thought of as “LaMelo Ball and the Revolution” on a national level. At age 19, Ball was already Prince.

But Ball is far from a perfect player, and the leap he needs to take in Year 2 of this teal-and-purple-rain thing shouldn’t be underestimated. The 20-year-old is the Hornets’ headliner but not yet an all-star. His defense and decision-making can be suspect. As a rookie, his slight frame (6-foot-7, 181 pounds) allowed him to sometimes get pushed around.

So Year 2 for Ball will be about leading from the front.

“I want him to take the reins of this program,” Hornets coach James Borrego said of Ball on Monday at media day. “He’s the quarterback. The floor general. And for us to take that next step he must run this team, not only on the offensive end, but the defensive end as well.”

Ball sounded Monday like he was anxious to take a more active leadership role as part of LaMelo 2.0.

“As a point guard, I’m definitely going to lead,” Ball said. “I mean, all my life I’ve been leading, so I feel like it’s a great position for me.”

The Hornets have veteran leaders like Gordon Hayward and Terry Rozier, and this isn’t meant to diminish them. But Ball not only attracts the most attention on this team, he also has the highest ceiling. Ball was so good as a rookie that he missed 21 out of 72 games with a broken wrist — nearly 30% of the season — and still was named the ROY after averaging 15.7 points, 5.9 rebounds and 6.1 assists per game. There’s a lot more where that came from, if Ball can harness his talent and also keep getting bigger and tougher.

Borrego has kept a close eye on Ball’s summertime progress. The coaching staff didn’t change Ball’s odd-looking jumper, figuring it went in enough of the time (he was 35.2% from three-point range as a rookie). What they have stressed, however, is that Ball needed to beef up a little, and that he also needed to understand more of the intricacies of clock and score management.

“He spent a lot of time in the weight room,” Borrego said of Ball. “He’s stronger. I think that is part of getting through 82 games. He’s managing his body… He spent a lot of time on the floor this summer, shooting the ball, working on his defense. We spent a lot of time one-on-one talking about the management of the game — understanding situations, time to score, play-calling, all those details that go into winning an NBA game. ... He’s had a great offseason. He’s been in here the entire time. I haven’t had to chase him down.”

No LiAngelo Ball on camp roster

Ball did get chased down occasionally by teammate Miles Bridges, though. The recipient of a lion’s share of Ball’s ESPN-ready alley-oops, Bridges took it upon himself to get Ball to work out regularly.

“I was dragging him to the weight room all summer,” Bridges said with a smile. “He definitely put some weight on. He knows that he needs to work on that, so guys can’t try to bully him or go at him on defense. I feel like he’s definitely gotten better on the defensive end. He’s going to be good this year, for sure.”

Although the Hornets now bend toward Ball whenever they can, as every NBA team will do for its stars, those adjustments have a limit.

LaMelo Ball’s older brother, LiAngelo, is also his close friend and workout partner. The Hornets put LiAngelo on their Summer League team, where he played decently well. But they didn’t include LiAngelo on their 20-man training camp roster, which LaMelo admitted “definitely” bummed him out.

Will Ball change jersey numbers?

Ball also isn’t wearing the jersey number he would like to. Ball wanted to wear No. 1 when he first arrived in Charlotte, but Malik Monk had it. Ball became No. 2. When Monk departed, Ball requested a change to No. 1 but, by NBA rules related mostly to merchandising, it was too late.

Ball could request the change now for the 2022-23 season and probably will. But this year it looks like he will be stuck with No. 2 due to the thousands of jerseys already manufactured with his name and that number.

“I feel like No. 1 is just me,” Ball said. “Playing in No. 2, you know, it don’t feel right.”

Ball has been around Charlotte long enough now to develop his affection for the Carolina Panthers, who he already liked before getting drafted by the Hornets.

“Honestly, I always liked the Panthers,” Ball said. “My Pops played there (LaVar Ball was on Carolina’s practice squad for two months in 1995) so I liked them. Liked the colors of the team. And when Cam Newton was here, it was one of my favorite teams for sure.”

Newton also had a jersey flap as a rookie. Unlike Ball, the quarterback did want No. 2, since he wore it in his Heisman season at Auburn. But soon-to-be-departing QB Jimmy Clausen had the number when Newton first arrived, so Newton took No. 1 for the Panthers and never took it off.

Ball would like to do the same thing, and that makes sense. He and Newton are both unique and charismatic players, the kind who embrace the challenge of both literally and figuratively being No. 1.

Now Ball must do what Newton did in Charlotte, transforming a losing team into one that was a threat for a deep playoff run every year.

“I expect a big year from him,” Borrego said.

Don’t we all?