LaMelo Ball

 LaMelo LaFrance Ball (born August 22nd 2001) is an American professional basketball player who plays for the Charlotte Hornets of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He was selected by the Hornets as the third overall pick of the 2020 NBA draft. Ball was named the NBA Rookie-of-the-Year in 2021, and also an NBA All-Star in 2022. He was a student at Chino Hills High school in Chino Hills, California. There he won the state championship and had national success as a freshman , along with his brothers Lonzo, and LiAngelo. In the final season of his junior year, a coaching dispute prompted him to quit Chino Hills and sign with Lithuanian professional team Prienai. In 2018, he was a player in the Junior Basketball Association (JBA), a league created by his father. He then going back to school in the year he was a senior with SPIRE Academy in Geneva, Ohio. Ball was a five-star college recruit and was a committed player at UCLA however, he decided to leave college basketball because of issues with eligibility and instead play in Australia for the Illawarra Hawks of the National Basketball League (NBL) in 2019. He experienced a rapid climb. Previously, scouts had dismissed Ball as the second-round pick, and the possibility of not playing in the NBA.