LaMelo Ball's season is over.
The Charlotte Hornets' star guard will miss the remainder of the 2024-25 campaign to address ankle and wrist issues, the team announced on Friday.
Ball will undergo arthroscopic surgery for right ankle impingement and go through a minor procedure on his right wrist.
According to ESPN's Shams Charania, Ball had played through his various ailments in recent weeks but upon consulting doctors, sitting out the final stretch of the season was the best course of action.
The 23-year-old had already been ruled out for Charlotte's road game against the Toronto Raptors on Friday due to right ankle impingement.
Ball's decision to sit out the Hornets' final 10 games punctuates yet another injury-riddled year for the one-time all-star. He hasn't amassed 50 appearances in a season since his second year in the league when he played a career-high 75 games.
The 2020 third-overall pick played in just 47 games this year, averaging a career-high 25.2 points with 4.9 rebounds, 7.4 assists and 1.1 steals in that span. Ball led the NBA with 11.2 three-point attempts per game and ranked fifth in makes at 3.8.
He's one of just 10 players in 2024-25 to average 25 points and five assists per game while leading the NBA in fourth-quarter scoring (7.8). The Hornets' star set a new career-high in scoring against the Milwaukee Bucks on Nov. 23, putting up 50 points — becoming just the ninth player in league history to score 50 with five rebounds, 10 assists and five made threes.
Ball has played in 231 games through five NBA seasons, averaging 21.0 points, 6.0 rebounds and 7.4 assists while shooting 36.5 per cent from distance in that span. The former Rookie of the Year is the franchise's leader for all-time triple-doubles (10) and ranks fifth for both made three-pointers (705) and assists (1,710).
It'll be the second year in a row in which the guard has been shut down early due to injury. He'll now join Brandon Miller on the sidelines as the sophomore forward had previously been ruled out for the year due to a wrist injury of his own.
Catch the 18-54 Hornets visit the 26-47 Raptors in a battle of East cellar-dwellers, with reverse standings implications, on Sportsnet One or Sportsnet+ at 7:30 p.m. ET / 4:30 p.m. PT.
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