The Charlotte Hornets point guard LaMelo Ball missed his team’s 122-118 victory over the Atlanta Hawks on Saturday after suffering a sore left ankle and sore right knee, marking the latest in a slew of injury setbacks for the 21-year-old player.
Ball missed the first 13 games of the season after spraining the same ankle that kept him out of Saturday’s game. Upon recovering, Ball appeared in three consecutive games before spraining it yet again, this time due to stepping on a fan’s foot. This second ankle sprain saw Ball ruling himself out of a further 11 games.
“Obviously, Melo is our star player,” Hornets guard Terry Rozier said. “We definitely need him. It’s definitely been our story all season, so we just try to work with what we’ve got and play the best basketball that we can.”
Lately, the Hornets have been struggling without their star man. After losing eight out of nine games, the Hornets won their last two successive games, however, they remain adrift in 14th place in the Eastern Conference standings.
