LaMelo Ball, the point guard for the Charlotte Hornets, will go from wearing the No. 2 to the No. 1 for the upcoming season, according to Shams Charania. Ball himself has not explained for the choice to change the numbers, and neither has Charania.
How LaMelo Ball’s No. 1 NBA jersey number changes the story behind his success.
Throughout his career, Ball wore No. 1, including while attending Chino Hills and SPIRE Academy for high school and while playing for the Illawarra Hawks in other countries.
Notably, Lonzo Ball, LaMelo’s brother, has worn No. 2 with the Los Angeles Lakers, New Orleans Pelicans, Chicago Bulls, UCLA, and various other teams. That could be the reason behind Ball’s choice to switch since it might help to draw some separation between the two.
How he changed the way people seee him from a freshman to an All-American Point Guard
When a player switches numbers, they typically do it for one of a few common motives.
The ball is Charlotte’s franchise player, therefore it’s unlikely he would give up the number for a teammate even if their team has signed a higher profile star who wants to wear it. They occasionally do it to represent a change in their internal circumstances following a career transitional period, although Ball has only played for two seasons. When Ball arrived in Charlotte, Malik Monk was sporting No. 1, but he had previously played for the Los Angeles Lakers. Given that the league requires a certain length of notice before changing uniform numbers, this change may have been in the works for a year.
Ball participated in his first All-Star Game last year, but the Hornets were eliminated in the play-in round, preventing them from making the playoffs for the second straight year. The Hornets are counting on Steve Clifford’s return as head coach and the still-evolving Ball in his new number to lead Charlotte to victory.