The Charlotte Hornets will be without star LaMelo Ball for the foreseeable future.
Ball is expected to miss significant time after he sustained a sprained right ankle in their loss to the Orlando Matic on Sunday, according to The Atheltic’s Shams Charania. While Ball avoided a fracture in his ankle — which is the same ankle that needed surgery and knocked him out for the second half of last season — the team is expected to be cautious in his return.
What that means specifically, however, is stil unclear. The team had ruled Ball, who is now in a walking boot, out of their game against the New York Knicks already on Tuesday afternoon at Madison Square Garden.
Ball went up for a layup over Magic forward Paolo Banchero just before halftime of their 130-117 loss at the Amway Center on Sunday afternoon. As Ball landed after making his way across the lane, his right ankle rolled hard. He went crashing down to the court clearly in pain, and had to be helped off the court to the locker room after several moments. He didn’t put much weight on his ankle at all as he did so.
He finished the game with seven points and two assists in 15 minutes.
Ball has averaged a career-high 24.7 points, 8.2 assists and 5.5 rebounds so far this season, his fourth in the league. He’s dropped at least 30 points in seven of their last 10 games, too. The 22-year-old signed a five-year, $205.9 million extension with the team this past offseason.
The Hornets are 5-10 so far this season headed into Tuesday’s game, which is part of the NBA’s in-season tournament, and they’ve lost five of their last seven contests.