The NBA Needs More LaMelo Balls

One opinion I share with teenagers who are trying to get TikTok famous by yelling 6 7 into the camera with zero context is that I am a fan of LeMelo Ball. I wish all 450 players in the NBA were LaMelo Ball. Well no... there needs to be high flying dunkers for him to lob the ball to. We need maybe 150 LaMelo Balls, and the rest of the NBA could be a mixture of Ja Morants and Anthony Edwardses.  

That's just a long drawn out way of saying that LaMelo Ball is a fun basketball player to watch, and I wish more players played like him. Miss me with that hard nosed defense and good solid fundamentals bullshit. Fuck 90's-style basketball. The new age analytics fueled Boston Celtics "if we shoot 100 three-pointers a game it actually gives us the best chance to win" can kick rocks. Give me a league full of point guard who's primary goal, even more so than winning, is adding to their mixtape. That's the NBA I want to watch. In a world full of Jayson Tatums, be a LaMelo Ball.

Now I can see how I might just be on a slippery slope to re-inventing Slam Ball. I understand that in reality, a league full of LaMelo Ball's might not actually result in a "good product". We can't just have an NBA full of teams with 20-62 records. Nobody would even make the playoffs. It would never work.

But for the Charlotte Hornets... as far as I'm concerned... LaMelo Ball could not be a more perfect fir for that franchise. Adam Silver should institute a rule that the Charlotte Hornets are required to build their franchise like an And-1 street ball team. I think that's something we can all get behind. They don't necessarily have to suck either. LaMelo Ball could end up being a legitimately great NBA player. Brandon Miller is good too. Miles Bridges is also a basketball player. If the Hornets can put it all together, that 9-seed vs 10-seed play-in game with the 37-45 Brooklyn Nets could be an instant classic. 

LaMelo ball is a treat to watch. He immensely skilled. I appreciate his enthusiasm. How when he throws a lob, when the ball is halfway there, he can't help but leap in the air with anticipation to watch his teammate throw it down. If the Charlotte Hornets ever make a run at the playoffs, as a man with no real NBA team, I'll be all aboard the Hornets bandwagon.