Charlotte Hornets’ LaMelo Ball met a serious wrist injury. He might not play the league for this season.
In a match against Los Angeles Clippers, Ball fractured his wrist. Rookie of the year contender, LaMelo Ball, fell while trying to dunk the ball.
As he fell, the player tried to balance himself with both of his hands.
However, during the fall, all his weight load fell on his outstretched hand. Load from falling transferred all the pressure on his wrist, causing the fracture.
Despite the pain, Ball continued playing, rather uncomfortably.
The right thumb area of his right wrist, his shooting hand, seems to be affected. MRI diagnosis confirmed the fracture.
Hornets have not confirmed officially whether he will play any more games or not. For now, he is listed out indefinitely.
Likewise, LaMelo is seeking second opinions at the moment. Guard for the team has a special surgery planned at New York this week itself.
Although at the moment, chances seem very slim, if everything goes alright, he might be back.
As for the game, LA Clippers won the home game by 122-98.
Debut Year
The ball entered the NBA through Charlotte Hornets in 2020. The team drafted him No.3 overall pick in the first round.
His averages are 15.9 points, 6.1 assists, and 5.9 rebounds in 41 games this season.
19-years old hunk has set himself as one of the best rookies of the season. Star Rookie is also the frontrunner for the Rookie of the Year award.
Before playing in the NBA, LaMelo played NBL Australia League for Illawarra Hawks for the 2019-2020 season.
For him, the NBL journey was cut short due to a foot injury. Hopefully, that will not be the case in the NBA.
During NBL, he averaged 17.0 points, 7.6 rebounds, and 6.8 assists in 12 games. Earned the Rookie of the Year title too.
Rookie of the Year
Every year along with several awards, NBA gives out ‘Rookie of The Year’ as well.
Throughout the season, the performance of the players determines the chances of winning. Sportswriters and broadcasters will cast a vote on whichever rookie they think is the best.
Each individual will get to vote for three rookies in 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place. First place holds five points, second three points and third holds one point.
In the end, whichever rookie has the maximum number of points wins the award.
With his dazzling performance, LaMelo has impressed other players, critics, and fans as well. Debut star is also leading the point table for the award with WAR 4.2 and RPM 2.6.
The question here is, will Ball be able to maintain his lead despite the injury?
Availability has drastic effects on the Most Valuable Player Award, but that is not the case in the Rookie award. They can still manage to win the award with 60% availability.
Kyrie Irving won while playing 77% of the games in 2011-12, while Brandon Roy won in 2006-07, playing just 70%. In 1985-86, Patrick Ewing was Rookie of the Year despite playing just 50 games (61%).
Ball has availability of 57% as of now.
Following him are Immanuel Quickley of the New York Knicks and Desmond Bane of the Memphis Grizzlies.
Immanuel has RPM 1.4 and WAR 1.8, while Bane has RPM -0.3 and WAR 1.2. WAR of LaMelo is still twice as much of the second lead Immanuel.
That means LaMelo might still be able to win the honor.
