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LaMelo Ball is allegedly leaving Charlotte with some unpaid debts. Court records viewed by The California Post on Tuesday show Ball was sued Monday — just weeks after he was traded from the Hornets to the Timberwolves — over accusations he owes a North Carolina landlord more than $100,000 in missed rent checks. According to a copy of the lawsuit, Ball and Agape Property Management Group entered into an agreement in December 2020 for the NBA player to rent two swanky units in a fancy uptown Charlotte condominium complex.
Court records viewed by The California Post on Tuesday show Ball was sued Monday — just weeks after he was traded from the Hornets to the Timberwolves — over accusations he owes a North Carolina landlord more than $100,000 in missed rent checks.
Tracy McGrady: 'My duo, I'm going LaMelo Ball and Ant-Man. I'm going LaMelo because LaMelo is very entertaining, he's flashy, and then Ant-Man, what he brings to the table with the swag... I just think the two together, man, it's just going to be fun to watch, very exciting. They going to be going at dudes next on that basketball court and talking sh*t, doing it, taking names. I just think the excitement that we going to see from both of them is going to be something special to watch this year.'
Kon Knueppel on LaMelo Ball's personality: Kon Knueppel: "Yeah, he's loud, um, but he, he comes in every day and he says hello to everybody. Um, and I mean like trainer, strength coach, assistant coach, whoever's cooking the food in the, in the meal room. Um, so it's just cool to have people like that around."
The Minnesota Timberwolves threw everything they possibly could at LeBron James to try to persuade him to chase a championship with them. Anthony Edwards and LaMelo Ball got on the phone with him. Alex Rodriguez led ownership’s pitch given their common ground as superstar athletes who have become business moguls. Tim Connelly’s longstanding working relationship with Rich Paul helped the two have extended conversations on the fit for James in Minnesota. Throughout the process, team sources said, the Timberwolves felt like James and his camp were giving them full consideration for his 24th season. Those sources spoke on condition of anonymity to be able to speak candidly about private negotiations. They always knew it was a long shot, but the prospect of putting James in a starting lineup alongside Edwards, Ball, Jaden McDaniels and Rudy Gobert was something they had to pursue all the way to the end.
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Q. You played well with LaMelo Ball. You guys were kind of like branded as the you know the future of the Hornets. Was that a shock to you? Kon Knueppel: Yeah, definitely a shock. Melo’s a great dude. (…) He was great to be around every day. So that's already missed, you know, just the joy and energy that he brought to the locker room.
But in Lee’s first interview since the official completion of all of the Hornets’ offseason moves, he laughed off the suggestion he wasn’t aware of the wheeling and dealing of Jeff Peterson, Charlotte’s president of basketball operations. “Yeah, I would say I was not caught off guard by it,” Lee told The Charlotte Observer. “I think one of the great things about our organization is that there’s always really good communication amongst all departments and groups. And I think that’s what Jeff does so well, is that he wants to communicate and collaborate with people. “And ultimately, he has to make some tough decisions to help our basketball team and our organization be in the best place to flourish and try to be the premier sports franchise.”
NBA Courtside: Anthony Edwards on playing with LaMelo Ball: “It’s definitely going to be ups and downs. First year together maybe a lot of downs. We’ll celebrate both of them. Celebrate the ups, celebrate the downs.” (Via @Fanatics)
Legion Hoops: Anthony Edwards says LaMelo Ball has been staying at his house the last couple days — plans to rush back to Minnesota after Fanatics Fest so they can hang out more. This duo is already locked in. 👀
Kalan Hooks: Anthony Edwards says LaMelo Ball has been at his house over the past couple of days and that he values the relationship they’re building. He also said they’ve been working on their postgame interviews.
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Ball had been the face of the Hornets franchise from the day he was drafted. He beat out Anthony Edwards for Rookie of the Year honors in 2021 and was an All-Star in his second season in the league. And he was coming off one of his best seasons, playing a central role in the Hornets’ stunning run over the second half of last season, a 33-15 finish that pushed them into the Play-In Tournament. Then, just when things finally appeared to be turning for the Hornets, Ball was sent away. “I feel like it’s God’s plan,” a soft-spoken Ball said on Tuesday at his introductory news conference. “I just leave it up to Him, and I just feel extremely blessed.”
Darren Wolfson: "The idea is to get Anthony Edwards a year from now to put pen to paper on another monster extension. The idea is to elevate Ant's game, get him to be All-NBA once again, then he can maximize his earning potential. The Wolves want Anthony Edwards a year from now to sign that monster extension. LaMelo Ball, the thought is, is going to help elevate Anthony Edwards that much more."
Darren Wolfson: "I know from Marc Lore and Alex Rodriguez down to Tim Connelly, to Chris Finch, to Pablo Prigioni, Elston Turner, others on the coaching staff, other guys, that the Wolves feel like they have a really good infrastructure in place to help LaMelo mature that much more. And there is a thought from the deep dive that they've done, that LaMelo took a big step forward last year, certainly on the court. We can have the conversation about the car accident off the court, but on the court, accepting playing lesser minutes, playing 28 minutes a night compared to 35 minutes a night. You look at that Charlotte Hornets offense, number one in the league from January 1st on. They were also a really good defense from January 1st on. LaMelo Ball drove a lot of that. The Wolves also feel like with their medical staff in place, and hey, recent history says this is a fact, the Wolves do a really good job of keeping their guys on the court compared to the rest of the league."
And while Peterson may not have been widely known since being hired in 2024, trading Ball shined the NBA spotlight on the thick-skinned GM. “Fortunately, I don’t get on social media. I don’t really follow it or anything like that,” Peterson, who is 37, told Andscape July 11 from the Thomas & Mack Center during NBA summer league. “I do have people who will send me stuff occasionally, and most of the time it’s as a joke. It’s always funny to me how people who don’t have the full context of a situation can truly weigh in on your decision making. But it’s very thick skin. “Look, when I ultimately made the decision to trade LaMelo, I knew that it was not going to go over well with a lot of the fanbase. I understand and respect their position on it. But the minute you start to feed into that, then you can’t do the job. It’s not that you can’t value other people’s opinion or appreciate their opinion. But if you let that weigh in too much on what you’re doing, you’ll get paralyzed.”
