LiAngelo Ball Announced as Part of Hornets' 2022 NBA Summer League Team Roster
July 2, 2022
LiAngelo Ball is back in the NBA, at least for the summer.
The brother of LaMelo Ball and Lonzo Ball was announced as part of the Charlotte Hornets' NBA Summer League roster on Friday. It will be his second straight year suiting up for the Hornets in summer-league action.
Ball has not had the standout career that both of his brothers—Hornets star LaMelo Ball and Chicago Bulls veteran Lonzo Ball—have had.
Ball played high school basketball in Chino Hills, California, before committing to play college basketball at UCLA. However, he left UCLA during his freshman season in 2017 after he and two of his teammates were arrested on shoplifting charges in China and suspended.
The 23-year-old went on to play for Prienai Vytautas of the Lithuanian Basketball League and the Los Angeles Ballers of the Junior Basketball League in 2018 before declaring for the NBA draft in March 2018.
Ball went undrafted but returned to play professionally for the Hornets during last year's summer league. He then declared for the G League draft and was selected by the Greensboro Swarm, the Hornets affiliate.
In 28 regular-season games with the Swarm, Ball averaged 4.6 points and 1.1 rebounds while shooting 39.5 percent from the floor and 35.7 percent from deep. He averaged 13.2 minutes per game.
Returning to the NBA Summer League allows Ball to continue working on his game with a Charlotte organization that clearly believes in his abilities. That said, the Hornets will likely be more focused on the development of Kai Jones, the 19th overall pick in the 2021 draft, and Mark Williams, the 15th overall pick in the 2022 draft.
The Hornets open up summer-league action with a matchup against the Indiana Pacers on July 8.