Charlotte Hornets’ All-Star LaMelo Ball was injured Wednesday after his teammate inadvertently stepped on his left ankle.
Hornets’ power forward P.J. Washington was attempting to swat away a shot near the basketball hoop when he fell and landed on Ball’s ankle. The 21-year-old point guard needed assistance by team trainers just to make it off the court.
LaMelo Ball left the game vs. the Rockets with an apparent ankle injury. pic.twitter.com/p23argAq2j
— ESPN (@espn) January 19, 2023
The Charlotte Hornets PR team confirmed on Twitter after the incident that Ball suffered a sprain to his left ankle.
INJURY UPDATE: @hornets guard LaMelo Ball left tonight’s game at HOU in the 3Q with a left ankle sprain. He will be out for the remainder of the game.
— Charlotte Hornets PR (@HornetsPR) January 19, 2023
It’s the third time this season Ball injured the same exact ankle. During a preseason game Oct. 10, Ball rolled his ankle against the Washington Wizards. His injury against Washington would keep him sidelined for Charlotte’s first 13 games of the regular season.
LaMelo Ball exited the game vs. Wizards with a left ankle sprain pic.twitter.com/luBqiWA0tk
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) October 11, 2022
It didn’t take long for Ball to find himself back on the injury report. In November, Ball rolled his left ankle on a fan’s foot sitting court side while attempting to save a ball from going out of bounds, and went on to miss 11 more games. (RELATED: REPORT: Jeanie Buss Doesn’t Believe In LeBron And Lakers Enough To Invest During Playoff Push)
LaMelo Ball just rolled his left ankle stepping on the foot of a fan sitting courtside. pic.twitter.com/QdeXDrZNdw
— Bally Sports: Hornets (@HornetsOnBally) November 17, 2022
It’s unknown how long the superstar point guard will be out, but it’s beginning to seem like he’s a player prone to injury. According to Basketball Reference, Ball has yet to play a full 82-game schedule in his three-year career thus far. If he were to be available more often to play, I’m sure his team wouldn’t be a dreadful 22-games under .500 right now.
That said, I’m sure Hornets’ owner Michael Jordan would have selected somebody else in the 2020 NBA Draft had he known Ball would be hurt so frequently.