LaMelo LaFrance Ball (born August 22, 2001) is an American professional basketball player for the Charlotte Hornets of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He was selected by the Hornets with the third overall pick of the 2020 NBA draft. Ball was voted the NBA Rookie of the Year in 2021 and named an NBA All-Star the following season in 2022.

Ball began high school at Chino Hills High School in Chino Hills, California, where he won a state championship and achieved national success as a freshman with his older brothers Lonzo and LiAngelo. Before his junior season, a coaching dispute prompted him to leave Chino Hills and sign with Lithuanian professional team Prienai. In 2018, he played in the Junior Basketball Association (JBA), a league created by his father, before returning to high school as a senior with SPIRE Academy in Geneva, Ohio. Ball was a five-star recruit and committed to UCLA, but chose to forgo college basketball amid eligibility concerns and play in Australia for the Illawarra Hawks of the National Basketball League (NBL) in 2019. There he had a meteoric rise. Previously, scouts had mocked Ball as a second round pick and potentially never playing in the NBA. However, his success led him to be selected third overall by the Hornets in the 2020 draft.

Ball and his brothers have attracted national attention since playing together in high school. His father, LaVar, also grew into a media personality in 2017. Ball has a signature shoe by his father's company, Big Baller Brand, and a role on his family's Facebook Watch reality show Ball in the Family. His older brother Lonzo Ball is a guard for the Chicago Bulls.

Ball was born in Anaheim, California to LaVar and Tina Ball, who were both former college basketball players. 

Ball was trained in basketball by his father, LaVar, as soon as he could walk.  At age four, he started playing the sport with his older brothers, Lonzo and LiAngelo, facing much older opponents. He also played flag football with his brothers at age five but continued to focus on basketball.[3] In 2013, while in seventh grade, Ball began playing with his brothers on Big Ballers VXT, a 17-and-under Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) team launched and coached by his parents.[4] The team, which was not sponsored by a major shoe company, did not compete in top AAU circuits and instead took part in local competitions. 

Freshman season (2015–2016)

In his freshman season, Ball started playing basketball for Chino Hills High School in Chino Hills, California. He was teammates with his two older brothers, Lonzo and LiAngelo, and his cousin, Andre Ball. In his first game, Ball scored 27 points as a starter  On March 5, 2016, he scored 26 points in a win over Sierra Canyon School for the CIF Southern Section Open Division title.  Later in the month, Ball helped his team capture the CIF Open Division state championship, recording 14 points in the title game against De La Salle High School. Chino Hills finished the season with a 35–0 record and claimed the mythical national championship.[9] Ball averaged 16.4 points and 3.8 assists per game and shared MaxPreps National Freshman of the Year honors with his teammate, Onyeka Okongwu. 

On December 26, 2016, Ball made national headlines for making a half-court shot two seconds into a game.  On February 4, 2017, he suffered his first high school loss despite scoring a game-high 36 points, with Oak Hill Academy ending Chino Hills' 60-game win streak.  In his next game, on February 7, Ball scored 92 points in a win over Los Osos High School, the second-most single-game points in California high school history He was criticized by analysts for cherry picking, as he often waited near half court to get an open shot on his next possession instead of defending.[19] Ball finished the season averaging 26.7 points and almost 10 assists per game, earning MaxPreps Sophomore All-American first team recognition.[20] On July 27, he featured in an AAU game against five-star recruit Zion Williamson that was featured in national sports media. 

On October 2, 2017, before his junior season, Ball left Chino Hills to be homeschooled because his father disapproved of newly-appointed head coach Dennis Latimore and school administration. On December 7, he signed with agent Harrison Gaines to play professionally overseas alongside his brother LiAngelo.  The decision indicated that he would not play college basketball.  In the following days, Gaines offered the brothers to professional teams in various European countries and in Japan. 

Ball with SPIRE Academy at the Flyin' to the Hoop Invitational in January 2019

On November 5, 2018, after skipping his junior year and a part of his senior year to play professionally, Ball joined SPIRE Institute and Academy, a prep school in Geneva, Ohio, where he played under h