For a high school superstar, 17-year-old LaMelo Ball played in an underwhelming amount of high school All-Star games this past season. In fact, the only high school All-Star game LaMelo played in during his senior year at Spire Institute was the infamous Big Baller Brand All American Game.
LaMelo was snubbed from both the Jordan Brand Classic and Allen Iverson Roundball Classic, and he was deemed ineligible to play in the McDonald’s All-American Game because of his brief professional stint in Lithuania. The lone high school All-Star game LaMelo can still play in before the conclusion of his high school career is the Ballislife All American Game.
The Ballislife All American game has hosted some of the brightest young stars in the NBA, including Trae Young, Donovan Mitchell, Zach LaVine and LaMelo’s oldest brother Lonzo Ball. LiAngelo also made the roster in 2017 alongside his Chino Hills High School teammate Eli Scott.
Despite this, it seems as though LaMelo has turned down an invitation to play in the game. The full rosters were released ahead of the game on May 4 and LaMelo’s name was omitted even though he was apparently invited.
Here’s a confirmation of his invitation courtesy of a Ballislife representative:
The question then is: Why would LaMelo turn down an invitation to play in a high school All-Star game?
It’s possible that he’s just completely over the high school circuit and is focused on the next step in his basketball journey, but it’s hard to believe there’s not more to it than that.
