On Monday, February 7, the NBA announced their full All-Star roster and reserves for the 2022 game.
After receiving a call about an hour before tip-off of the Hornets’ game against the Toronto Raptors, 2021 Rookie of the Year, Lamelo Ball, found out he had been one of two players chosen to replace the injured Kevin Durant and Draymond Green in the big game.

Ball grew up in California, where he attended Chino Hills High School. At age four, he first picked up a ball, and at that moment, as his father Lavar Ball says, it was clear that he would go on to do great things. At Chino Hills high school, he was able to play one season with his older brothers Lonzo, also in the NBA, and Liangelo, in the NBA’s G-League. This season was where he scored a record-breaking 92 points in one game. Before his junior season, Ball opted to leave high school and play overseas in Lithuania. From there, he came back to the states to play for SPIRE Academy in Ohio, and then left a final time to play in Australia in 2019. All of this experience certainly did a good job preparing him for his future, as he was the No.3 draft pick in the 2020 NBA draft, at age 19.

The big NBA All-Star game will be held on February 20 in Cleveland, Ohio. This title was definitely deserving for the young star. He is still shy of 21, yet is averaging 19.6 points, 7.1 rebounds, 7.5 assists, and 1.5 steals per game in 47 games. This season alone, he has posted four triple-doubles, tying the Hornet’s single-season franchise record. Along with this, he is one of nine players with four or more triple-doubles. In his game on January 26th, against the Indiana Pacers, Ball became the second-youngest player in NBA history to reach five career-triple doubles.

Senior Julie Jenkins said, “I see news about Lamelo Ball all over social media. He really has all the hype and I could understand why. He is such a young player, yet is one of the best in the league. I’m excited to see what comes next for him.”

After hearing about the big news, Ball was asked by a Charlotte interviewer if this game has been a goal of his, in which he responds “It could be a goal, but mainly I was like MVP, championship, Hall of Fame, but it definitely could go in there.”

This optimistic attitude shows how Ball is never satisfied. Even being the fourth-youngest all-star in NBA history, he knows he has bigger shoes to fill. Despite this huge accomplishment, his team’s successes are much more important to him right now. With the hornets being ranked at number nine in the eastern conference, they sure have a lot to prove, and Ball will be a huge help.