LaMelo Ball is coming off one of the worst shooting performances of his NBA career, as the Charlotte Hornets guard only had two points, five rebounds, seven assists, and two steals on 1-for-15 shooting from the field during the team’s 94-87 home loss against the Cleveland Cavaliers on Wednesday evening.
Despite this, Charlotte Hornets head coach heaped praise on Ball, as he felt that the former NBA Rookie of the Year tried to make up for his offensive shortcomings by playing hard on the defensive end.
“Regardless of the shooting numbers, he continued to scrap and claw defensively. His engagement there was really good. Offensively, taking some good shots, trying to find his rhythm in pick-and-roll, but he also tried to get on the offensive glass a couple times,” Lee said of Ball during the postgame presser.
“For the most part, he continued to try to play through it and not let his shot-making, or shot-missing, dictate the energy he was gonna give to the game, and try to impact the game in other ways,” he added.
Charlotte Hornets News: Charles Lee makes bold prediction after the Cleveland Cavaliers loss
The Charlotte Hornets-Cleveland Cavaliers game on Wednesday was one of the rare times that Charlotte plays on ESPN, and head coach Charles Lee strongly believes this should be their norm moving forward.
“Yeah, we’re really excited to be able to play the ESPN game,” Lee said via The Charlotte Observer. “It’s one of those moments where a lot of people talk about our story, and I think now we get to actually show our own story, and our performance can do the talking for us.”
“A phenomenal opportunity for our organization, our players. They earned it, they deserve it. This will be the norm because I know that we’re just going to get better and better, and people are going to want to see us on TV more,” he concluded.
