Advertisement - scroll for more content
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement - scroll for more content
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
A lawsuit seeking over $3 million from Charlotte Hornets star LaMelo Ball is moving closer to trial, court records show. The suit is tied to allegations that Ball injured a child's foot while leaving Spectrum Center following a scrimmage in 2023. The alleged incident happened following the "Purple and Teal Day at the Hive," a free activity event hosted by the team on Oct. 7, 2023. According to the suit, Ball drove off in a "grossly negligent and reckless manner" after fans swarmed his car at a traffic light near the arena. The plaintiff's son was hit by Ball's car.
There’s another Ball in the bunch. LaMelo Ball and his partner Ana Montana announced that they had welcomed a baby boy into the world earlier this year and that they are launching a platform and nonprofit in order to support women through the fertility and IVF process. The new addition to the family was born in January and the couple told People in a statement that their son, LaOne, “has changed our hearts in the best way.” “Family has always meant everything to us, but becoming parents has given us an entirely new perspective on love, purpose, legacy and what truly matters most,” the couple said.
LaMelo Ball and his partner Ana Montana are officially parents. The NBA star, 24, and the model, whose real name is Analicia Chaves, have welcomed their first baby together, son LaOne, a rep for the couple confirms to PEOPLE exclusively. Ball and Montana, who welcomed their son this past January, are also launching I Am Fertility, a platform and nonprofit dedicated to supporting women navigating fertility and IVF journeys.
Nick Wright got a lot of exposure for calling LaMelo Ball a clown, specifically. He said he’s unserious, and LaMelo has had that “unserious” label for quite a few years. I’d say this year is the first year where people started to go, “Oh, wait a minute.” What’s it like to hear your guard talked about so negatively in the press? Do you hear it, and do you think anything of it? Moussa Diabaté: I mean, it’s one of those things where most people are not in the locker room. Everybody is going to have an opinion about things, and obviously, when you’re not winning, it’s one of those things where people are always going to find bad things going on. For me, it’s part of life. People are going to do that. At the end of the day, when you’re not winning, things like that are going to happen. Obviously, I’m not saying that we’re perfect or that we can’t get better, and obviously, Melo got better. But he wants to win. That has always been his mindset. He wants to win. He wants to do whatever he can do to win. Even defensively, people are not looking at it from the standpoint of the little details — his recovery, understanding the game, understanding when to take his shots. He wants to ask questions all the time.
James Plowright: Jeff Peterson on LaMelo Ball's season "I'm so proud of him, playing 72 games... It is because of him, he put the work in. Of course our medical team/coaching staff helped, but this past summer he put the work in... it's not by accident, he put the work in... Defensively I thought his effort on that side of the floor was more intense and sustained. Offensively, there's not much he can't do... He's still relatively young in the league, he's an enormous talent."
Advertisement
Lonzo Ball: Nick Wright a bum! 🤡
Rod Boone: Pat Connaughton very introspective when I asked him about the season: "No one is excited to see the Charlotte Hornets on their schedule anymore." And LaMelo Ball: "His genuine desire to win and want to win is real."
Fullcourtpass: LaMelo Ball says the Hornets were running too many plays after losing to the Magic: “I feel like we were running a lot of plays and getting pushed around. I should’ve just took the ball from the beginning.” (h/t @Meloleague)
Yet in the end, the star guard remains optimistic about the lessons they learned after coming up short in making it to the NBA Playoffs. "Obviously, it hurt a lot, but I feel like it’s all just learning lessons," Ball told reporters after the Hornets were manhandled by the Orlando Magic with a 120-91 loss in Friday's Play-In Tournament. "You live, you learn, you evolve, and you move on."
Advertisement
Despite the Play-In loss extending their record for having the NBA's active longest playoff drought, Ball can't be more excited about what the future holds for him and the Hornets. "It was better than the previous season, so that’s good. But still not making the playoffs hurt," Ball said. "Still, we did better than the years before, so like I said, we’re just trying to evolve. "Hopefully next year, no Play-In."
MrBuckBuck: Draymond Greebln says LaMelo Ball doesn’t deserve a suspension since Sabonis wasn’t suspended for grabbing his ankle. “We saw the same thing when Sabonis grabbed my ankle and nothing happened.”
Draymond Greebln says LaMelo Ball doesn’t deserve a suspension since Sabonis wasn’t suspended for grabbing his ankle.
— MrBuckBuck (@MrBuckBuckNBA) April 17, 2026
“We saw the same thing when Sabonis grabbed my ankle and nothing happened.”pic.twitter.com/Xnz0Bpfade
Draymond Green on Bam Adebayo, LaMelo Ball incident: Before Bam exit that game, he was working Diabte… if Bam Adebayo doesn’t get hurt, LaMelo Ball don’t get fined. Let’s take it a step farther, I’m happy they didn’t suspend LaMelo for a game because you can’t suspend him just because he got hurt. We saw the same thing when Domantas Sabonis grabbed my ankle and nothing happened. You can’t have it both ways. Was it an intentional trip? To me, he grabbed and pulled him. Yes it was an intentional trip. Was he intentionally trying to hurt him? No. I don’t think LaMelo is thinking ‘I’m bout to grab Bam ankle, he’s gonna fall on his ass and hurt his back.’
