HORNETS WIN! Charlotte wins their first play-in game against Miami last night, and are now one win away from putting the cherry on top of their amazing second half of the season and making the playoffs.
Good for the Hornets. Seems like they took home the 2025-26 award for Most Bandwagon Fans Acquired, thanks to the historic rookie season from Kon Knueppel, high flying dunks from Brandon Miller and Miles Bridges, big shots from the returning hometown hero Coby White, and the LaMelo Ball resurgence.
Super weird to already have a resurgence in your career as a 24 year old, but truly feel that’s where we’re at with LaMelo, if even that.
I have never been so torn on a player. There are players who help you win, and there are players who put up stats.
Then there’s LaMelo Ball… who does both, and neither, at the same time.
Just earlier this season, we spoke about LaMelo in the same breath as Trae Young, Ja Morant, and Zion Williamson. Three guys who’s stock have plummeted and seemed like all 4 of these guys were hurting their teams, rather than helping them.
I personally had LaMelo ranked in the 60 – 70th best player in the league in December, when it seemed as if the Hornets were still the Hornets (starting 4-14), LaMelo was never going to develop a basketball brain, and looked like he wasn’t even the best player on his team anymore after the start of the season we were seeing from Knueppel. Every shot he has ever taken feels like it was decided 0.3 seconds ago (because it probably was).
But then something changed.
Post-January, these Hornets caught fire. They started clicking.
After January, Charlotte averaged 116 points a game while having the best net rating and most efficient offense in the league.
They found their own version of a Death Lineup. When LaMelo, Kon Knueppel, Brandon Miller, Miles Bridges, and Moussa Diabate took the floor together, they outscored opponents by 26 points per 100 possessions.
Everyone was doing their part on this team. 5 players averaged 15+ ppg.
During this hot streak, media also seemed to have given the title of Best Player on the Hornets back to LaMelo Ball. Which I GUESS is true, but the more I watch him, the more I think “would this team be just as good, if not better, with a normal point guard?” This is not something you should think about your “star player”
I asked myself: Should any team’s fans really want him?
Here are some results:
Lakers fans: Yes but also no but also yes
Knicks Fans: Yes, we can fix him (they can’t fix him)
Celtics Fans: Absolutely not (secretly yes but also no but don’t tell anyone)
Hornets fans: Please just let us have this
The highlight heroes of NBA fans would argue for Melo for sure, if you just watch highlights you could even argue Melo is one of the league’s finest, and I’ll give him that for sure. He will even have nights when the box score translates. Hell, he had 30,10, and 5 last night along with the game winner. If confidence was a stat, he would be the greatest to ever play the game.
But there are other times I watch him and think he is dumber than a box of rocks. There are times he is so off, he would miss trying to throw one of these rocks into an ocean if he tried, OFTEN shooting under 35%. He has the skill of Steve Nash with the IQ of J.R. Smith.
At the end of the day, I still have no idea if LaMelo Ball is good. But if he is, he is the worst of the good. If he is bad, he is the best bad player ever. #EmbraceDebate
You pick which group he belongs in.
Best Bad Players Ever:
Zach Lavine
Monta Ellis
D’Angelo Russell
Worst Good Players Ever:
Trae Young
Rudy Gobert
Julius Randle