Opinion: Lamelo Ball
From starting on a national championship winning high school team as a freshman, to flying on multiple trips overseas to play professional basketball, to being drafted third overall in the 2020 NBA Draft, 19 year old LaMelo Ball has had quite the journey to the NBA.
LaMelo Ball was born in 2001 to an extremely gifted family. His father, Lavar Ball, was once a professional football player, and his mother, Tina Ball, played college basketball at Cal State Los Angeles.
His time in the spotlight began when he attended Chino Hills High School, and joined the varsity team as a freshman. In just his first year, LaMelo was already starting alongside his brothers Lonzo and LiAngelo. He also attracted national attention by winning the MaxPreps National Freshman of the Year award. His team went on to win the state and national championship, and ended up with a perfect 35-0 season record.
In his sophomore season at Chino Hills, LaMelo emerged as a nationwide sensation with his explosive playmaking and swagger on the court. Without his brother Lonzo, LaMelo stepped up as a leader on the team and led them to another successful season. He gained enough recognition to be named to the MaxPreps All-American first team. He was classified as a five star recruit and was seen as one of the top players in the class of 2019.
Most basketball players who end up in the NBA typically stand out in their high school years. They then get recruited to attend college at prestigious basketball powerhouses like Duke and Kentucky, and then make their way to the NBA. Going to college was the safest route that most players had and many thought it would be the same for LaMelo. In fact, he verbally committed to UCLA a few years before he graduated. But he decided to take a more difficult path to the NBA, one that was considered unconventional and incredibly risky: playing overseas.
LaMelo decided to sign a professional contract to play professional basketball in Lithuania, after he was pulled out of Chino Hills early in his junior year due to disagreements with a coach. At the time, his choice was seen as a mistake by most basketball experts. Signing a professional contract threatened his NCAA eligibility, meaning that he could lose the ability to play college basketball in the future. He was also only 16 years old competing with grown men in a professional basketball league thousands of miles away from home. Despite the criticism, he continued to play his game and blaze his own trail at an incredibly young age.
LaMelo then came back to the states to play high school basketball for his senior year. He laced up for the SPIRE Institute and Academy in Ohio and instantly caught national attention again as he led his team to a winning season and won season MVP along the way.
The last stop on his journey was overseas with the Illawarra Hawks in the National Basketball League of Australia. He finished up his senior season at SPIRE, then signed with the Hawks and made an instant impact on his new team as a playmaker. A year and a half since signing his first professional contract, LaMelo was now much taller, bigger and stronger than he was in Lithuania. Despite only playing a dozen games and leaving early to prepare for the NBA Draft, LaMelo Ball quickly showed his star potential and was even named Rookie of the Year.
Finally, in the 2020 NBA draft, LaMelo Ball was drafted third overall to play for the Charlotte Hornets. After years of facing adversity, LaMelo had finally reached his lifelong goal: to play in the NBA.