The Charlotte Hornets landed LaMelo Ball with the No. 3 pick in Wednesday’s 2020 NBA Draft. After long being in the conversation for the No. 1 pick, the Timberwolves selected Anthony Edwards with the top selection. After the Golden State Warriors passed on Ball, as expected, the Hornets snapped at the opportunity.
The selection came despite the Hornets having an established backcourt of Devonte’ Graham and Terry Rozier. Part of the reason the team may have gone forward with the pick, though, was that Ball had one very influential fan.
From Marc Stein of New York Times:
“Some league insiders believe that the Hornets, at Jordan’s behest, want Ball at No. 3 should Minnesota and Golden State select Anthony Edwards and James Wiseman with the top two picks.”
That Jordan would be a fan of Ball is interesting only because of what LaMelo’s father, LaVar, has said about Jordan. Infamously, Ball stated that he could beat Jordan in a game of one-on-one. That is on a list of many things he has said about Jordan, almost all of them as outlandish as the prior.
But as has been proven to be the case during Lonzo’s career, little of what LaVar says or does impacts how teams deal with his sons.
