LaMelo Ball says he signed 5-year extension with Hornets because team is on the right path

NBA

NBA

LaMelo Ball says he signed 5-year extension with Hornets because team is on the right path

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Charlotte Hornets guard LaMelo Ball brings the ball upcourt during the first half of an NBA basketball game against the Detroit Pistons in Charlotte, N.C. LaMelo Ball could have tried to force his way out of Charlotte in hopes of landing with an established NBA playoff contender in the next few years. Instead the 2022 All-Star point guard decided to embrace his current situation with the Hornets by signing a five-year contract earlier this month that will pay him up to $260 million.

 

LaMelo Ball could’ve tried to force his way out of Charlotte in hopes of landing with an established NBA playoff contender in the next few years.

Instead, the 2022 All-Star point guard decided to embrace his current situation with the struggling Hornets by signing a five-year deal earlier this month that will pay him up to $260 million. In so doing, he became first Hornets player to sign a rookie max contract extension, giving Charlotte a cornerstone piece to build around.

Ball said he chose to remain in Charlotte because he’s comfortable living there and believes in what the Hornets are trying to create.

“Where we at, I feel like we are all growing together,” Ball said Wednesday in his first news conference since signing the contract. “I think it’s just a great position and I think we are all going the right way now.”

Ball said the decision to stay wasn’t tough.

 

“All my years here I’ve had a good time,” Ball said. “Life wasn’t bad. The basketball aspect, if that’s not really going well, then you want to just live your life and have fun. You want to be living well, and in Charlotte I’m doing that. It all just felt like a great choice.”

General manager Mitch Kupchak said keeping a player like Ball is a big step for the Hornets.

He thinks Charlotte is on the verge of snapping a streak of seven straight seasons without making the playoffs, the longest active streak in the league.

“We have not had great success as a team, which is something that will change,” Kupchak said. “To have a player like him back with us, just to come back to us, it’s exciting.”