For years, Cole Anthony and LaMelo Ball circled one another. Dating back to their early years of high school, both were considered top players and point guards of the 2019 recruiting class.
Their paths clearly deviated during the middle years of high school but the two nearly crossed paths in 2018. SPIRE Institute’s original schedule prior to LaMelo Ball joining the program included a contest against Oak Hill and Anthony. However, fears of players on their roster losing eligibility led to Oak Hill pulling out of the match-up.
With Anthony attending UCLA last season and Ball venturing off to Illawarra, all parties had to wait until the NBA for them to meet. The preseason offered the opportunities for those contests and they lived up to the hype.
On Thursday, Ball shined bright with 18 points in his best game of the preseason. Anthony got the last laugh on Saturday, though, scoring 19 points including the game-winning basket in the closing seconds to give Orlando the win.
Following Thursday’s game, Anthony reflected on finally getting the chance to take on Ball on a basketball court (h/t RookieWire).
“That boy is good, he’s talented,” Anthony said. “People have been talking about us playing for years now, I’m just happy I finally got to match up with him. We weren’t the two headliners coming in but it was still fun to be able to get out there. That’s actually the first time we’ve met, too. We have been really cool and it has always been love on social media but that’s actually the first time in person so I mean it’s nothing but love for him. He’s super talented.”
Anthony and Ball will have plenty of opportunities to meet more in the coming months and years. As rivals in the Southeast division, the two teams will meet four times a year and provide fans will plenty of meetings to make up for the circling they did with one another in previous years.
