5 fast facts about new Hornets draft pick LaMelo Ball — and his predraft video.
The Charlotte Hornets selected LaMelo Ball with the No. 3 pick in Wednesday’s NBA Draft.
Here are 5 quick facts about the new first round pick.
1. Ball is a social media giant. He has 5.6 million followers on Instagram and nearly 700,000 on Twitter.
2. You probably know his famous father, LaVar, who once played for the Carolina Panthers, but LaMelo has been training for the NBA with Jermaine Jackson Jr., a Detroit native and former member of the Detroit Pistons.
(LaVar once bragged he could beat Michael Jordan in a game of 1-on-1. Now with LaMelo in Charlotte, LaVar may have a shot at the Hornets owner on the court).
3. His brother, Lonzo, was No. 2 pick in the 2017 NBA Draft. They are the first brothers to be top 5 NBA picks.
4. LaMelo, a 6-foot-7 guard, left his high school team, Chino Hills (CA), before his junior season and played with a professional team in Lithuania and he later played in Australia for the Illawarra Hawks in 2019, winning NBL Rookie of the Year.
5. Along with his brothers LaMelo and LiAngelo, and his father, the Balls once had their own shoe brand as well as a Facebook Watch reality show, Ball in the Family.
This story was originally published November 18, 2020 at 8:57 PM.
