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Woj: LaMelo Ball Coveted by NBA for Skills Challenge at 2021 All-Star Weekend
February 13, 2021
The NBA wants Charlotte Hornets rookie point guard LaMelo Ball to participate in the All-Star skills competition, per ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski (4:50 mark).
"I'm told that one player the league would really like to get involved in that skills competition: The Rookie of the Year favorite right now, Charlotte's LaMelo Ball," Wojnarowski said.
The No. 3 overall pick in the 2020 NBA draft entered the Hornets' starting lineup for good on Feb. 1. The 19-year-old averaged 21.7 points, 6.3 assists, 5.3 rebounds and 1.3 steals per game in six starts prior to Friday.
Ball is the undisputed Rookie of the Year favorite and one the game's brightest young stars already, and he would certainly make the skills competition more exciting.
The NBA and NBPA are aiming to hold truncated one-day All-Star festivities amid the COVID-19 pandemic on Sunday, March 7 in Atlanta, per Wojnarowski.
The league plans to hold the skills and three-point competitions before the All-Star Game. The Slam Dunk contest is set to take place during halftime of the All-Star Game, with the ASG's second half concluding the day's events.
