All it takes to fully comprehend what the Charlotte Hornets have on their hands is to listen to the perspective of some of the league’s most knowledgeable veteran coaches.
They aren’t dipping deep into hyperbole when giving their viewpoint on LaMelo Ball and Indiana coach Rick Carlisle is no different. Ball’s ascension to greater heights during such a short period of time has fans plunking down their hard earned cash to get an in-person view or tune in to follow along on the broadcast. And Carlisle understands why.
“He changes everything for them,” Carlisle said. “He’s a great young player and he’s gotten so exponentially better each year. And watching the last couple of games, he’s getting his legs and shaking off some of the rust from being out. But he’s getting clean shots in there. They are like right in line, and the ones he’s missing are right there. He just does so many things, including getting the home crowd into it. But being without him for the first weeks of the season was a big loss for them.”
That massive void could be back again.
Ball re-injured the same sprained left ankle in Wednesday night’s 125-113 loss to the Pacers that forced him to sit out the season’s initial 13 games. He stepped on the foot of a fan sitting courtside while trying to chase down a loose ball in the closing minutes.
In hobbling off, the scene was eerily reminiscent of what transpired the last time Ball was on the court for a game last month, when Washington’s Anthony Gill stepped on his left foot in their Oct. 10 preseason matchup.
Considering Ball came through a sequence earlier in the game unscathed, avoiding dangerous contact with cameramen along the baseline while speeding out of bounds, it was another unlucky moment during an injury-ravaged season barely a month old.
For a team already missing several players with an assortment of ailments, Ball’s injury is a punch to the solar plexus and left the Hornets with a soul-sucking feeling 48 hours after they snapped an eight-game losing skid in Orlando. The emotional toll can’t be understated.
“It takes some air out of you,” Kelly Oubre said. “It takes some air out of the team, it takes some air out of the organization. But he’s not the only one. There’s a lot of guys fighting the health bug and you just pray for their recovery as fast as possible so that we can kind of get this thing on the road with our full team at full strength.”
Odds of that happening probably are akin to winning the Powerball, though.
Dating back to the first preseason game, there’s yet to be a point where the Hornets (4-12) have had everyone on the roster available. There have been cameo appearances here and there, but nothing of substance, and trying to find effective player combinations on the fly without the groups has been difficult for coach Steve Clifford. They’re now up to a combined 46 games missed due to injury, a direct indicator of just how rough things are.
“At the end of the day, it’s part of the game,” PJ Washington said. “We all know at some point everybody’s going to get back out there, and we can’t wait for it. But right now the problem is we’re losing games, so we’ve got to figure it out and start getting some wins.”
Without a healthy Ball, finding ways to do just that consistently is a difficult proposition. Their loose-leaf thin margin for error is already minuscule enough even when Ball is on the floor and they have to be near flawless.
That’s why the Hornets are holding out hope Ball won’t be sidelined for a lengthy period of time.
“It‘s tough,” Oubre said. “There’s a bug going around for sure. But our job is to go out there, remain healthy and perform. And when a guy like that of his caliber goes out multiple times in a season, it’s kind of depleting. But at the same time, Godspeed to him in his recovery. He’s a professional and I know he’ll come back quicker than we expect.”
Ball did that over the weekend, when he returned from his nearly five-week absence. He admitted he likely wouldn’t have suited up just yet if Dennis Smith Jr. hadn’t sprained his left ankle twice in a six-day span, forcing him to sit out the second of their two losses in Miami. Ball was finally getting the chance to make his regular-season home debut, but now who knows when the Hornets’ All-Star will be among the Hornets’ faithful again.
“In his third year, he’s one of the guys that you pay to watch,” Carlisle said, “because he entertains, plays with joy, gets the ball in the basket, finds people and he makes the experience fun.”
