LaMelo Ball

LaMelo Ball participated in his first career NBA All-Star Game in Cleveland on Sunday. The Charlotte Hornets second-year point guard scored 18 points.

“I think his passing ability, his instincts, has a really great knack for offensive rebounding – I think he’s averaging 1.7 offensive rebounds per game – pushes the basketball. And I think the biggest thing is his shot (and) his shot improving. “It’s really impressive,” Miami Heat and Team Durant coach Erik Spoelstra said of Ball. “But his feel, his I.Q. for the game, his ability to make his teammates better — that jumps off the screen every time you see him play. Everything in Ball’s impressive trajectory suggests this is only the beginning of his potentially yearly taste of the league’s annual winter exhibition. Comparisons for Ball have varied, but they all come back to a common theme: His skillset already ranks up there with a few who are in rare company. He’s perfect for the All-Star Game. I think he’s going to thrive in that.” It was just a great experience.” That includes Ball’s boss, Hornets’ owner Michael Jordan, who was in Florida earlier in the day taking in the Daytona 500, where his 23XI Racing team with driver Bubba Wallace finished second. Ball’s jerseys are sprinkled in just about every visiting arena and he’s a marketable player, making him feel right at home with the league’s elite over the weekend. He, of course, also turned in a play or two that are likely to be shared and viewed by millions on social media, such as the between-the-legs alley-oop to San Antonio’s Dejounte Murray. Although the Hornets have played on national television six times this season — which marks the most appearances since the team returned to Charlotte — being handpicked as an injury replacement for Kevin Durant by NBA commissioner Adam Silver served as another significant step in the franchise’s relevancy. “I thought was cool.