Hornets select LaMelo Ball with No. 3 pick

LaMelo Ball possesses elite playmaking skills and a knack for creating his own shot.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — LaMelo Ball is thrilled to have a chance to play for the Charlotte Hornets. But the 6-foot-7 point guard is more excited to play for the one of the greatest basketball players of all time in Michael Jordan.

“Man, straight blessing, for real,” Ball said of the six-time NBA champion and current Hornets owner. “I don’t even have enough words to say, I’m just blessed.”

The Hornets selected Ball with the No. 3 pick in the NBA draft, giving Jordan’s team a player with immediate notoriety and a rookie who can help put fans in the seats once the coronavirus subsides. Ball has amassed more than 5.6 million followers on Instagram — which is 600,000 more than last year’s No. 1 draft pick Zion Williamson.

“He’s a very young talented player who plays the kind of pace that we like to play,” Hornets general manager Mitch Kupchak said. “He has a flare to his game that maybe has some entertainment to it, maybe more so than some other players. (But) that’s not why we drafted him. We drafted him because of his size and length and the way he can handle the ball and the way he pushes the ball.”

It’s unclear what the addition of Ball means for Charlotte’s starting backcourt of Devonte Graham and Terry Rozier, the team’s two leading scorers last season. Graham averaged 18.2 points per game in his second season, while Rozier averaged 18 points per game after coming over from the Celtics.

Kupchak said he’s not concerned about that, adding that he could foresee Ball playing some point forward alongside four other players who are 6-7 or shorter.

Ball said he’s all for that.

“I feel like I fit anywhere,” Ball said. “It is positionless basketball. I feel like I can get it and go.”

Ball is most comfortable with the ball in his hands and brings exceptional ball handling and court vision to the NBA after averaging seven assists per game last season for Australia’s Illawarra Hawks of the National Basketball League.

He’s considered a fearless shooter and has shown the ability to get shots off quickly because of his shiftiness. He finished 17th in the NBL last season in scoring, averaging 17 points per game although he only played in 12 games.

Ball first earned national attention during his freshman year at Chino Hills High School in California where he won a state title playing alongside his older brothers LiAngelo and Lonzo, who now plays for New Orleans Pelicans. Ball left to play professionally overseas after his junior season of high school, first playing in the Lithuanian league and later for the Hawks.

Lonzo and LaMelo are the first brothers to be selected in the top five.

“I feel like I was born to do this,” Ball said.

The Hornets have not won a playoff series since the 2001-02 season, but are hoping Ball can help change that.