LaMelo Ball wants family alleging he broke child’s foot to pay his attorneys’ fees
Charlotte Hornets star LaMelo Ball is denying he’s at fault in response to a lawsuit alleging he ran over and broke a boy’s foot while leaving the Spectrum Center in his purple Rolls Royce, according to new court documents.
Lawyers for the team’s highest-paid player argue the injuries are the boy’s fault and his family should pay Ball’s attorneys’ fees.
The mother of 12-year-old Angell Joseph filed a lawsuit against Ball and the Hornets in May alleging Ball ran over her son’s foot as he drove away from the stadium on Oct. 7, 2023. Joseph was approaching Ball for an autograph after the Hornets’ annual Purple and Teal Day scrimmage, his mother, Tamaria McRae, alleged.
Then the point guard sped off, she said, and left Joseph on the ground with a broken foot.
The family is suing both Ball and the Hornets for more than $25,000. They need the money to pay Joseph’s medical bills, their lawyer previously said. The family couldn’t file a claim with Ball’s insurance company because Ball’s name and insurance provider were missing from the filed police report, said the lawyer, Cameron DeBrun.
Highest-paid player
Ball’s more than $200 million contract is “the most lucrative deal in the 36 years of pro basketball’s existence in Charlotte — and most expensive in the city’s history,” The Charlotte Observer previously reported.
In a Jan. 27 filing in Mecklenburg County Superior Court, Ball’s lawyer said he “made a safe and legal right turn onto North Caldwell Street and stopped at the traffic light at Trade Street. ... when the traffic signal turned green, Ball began to lawfully and orderly proceed through the intersection.”
“On occasion,” they wrote, “some fans wait outside of the entrance.”
Ball’s lawyers said the boy’s “negligence was a proximate cause of [his] alleged injuries and damages.” The boy’s injuries, they said, were really caused by the “negligence on the part of a party not under the control of Ball.”
The Hornets made a similar argument, asking a judge to dismiss the team from the lawsuit in a court filing Jan. 17, The Charlotte Observer previously reported.
The team argued it “has no control over” Ball or “the public streets of Mecklenburg County.”
A spokesperson for the Hornets declined to comment Tuesday on pending litigation.
This story was originally published February 5, 2025 at 5:00 AM.
