Hornets guard LaMelo Ball was “increasingly frustrated” with the team during its 4–11 start and would be “open to” a trade out of Charlotte, according to an eye-opening revelation from Kelly Iko of Yahoo! Sports.
Ball appears to have heard about such reports and acted swiftly to put an end to them. Ball tweeted a clown-face emoji after seeing the article on X, formerly Twitter, implying that it was untrue.
— Melo (@MELOD1P) November 20, 2025
The report was released the day after Ball was benched late in the fourth quarter of the Hornets’ matchup with the Pacers.
Charlotte has fallen to 12th place in the East after losing four straight games. In nine games, Ball has averaged 21.6 points, 9.6 assists, and 6.9 rebounds.
Ball is currently in his sixth season with the Hornets after being selected third overall in the 2020 NBA draft. Despite playing in 240 games, he has never made it to the postseason. During Ball’s time with the team, Charlotte has just once had a winning record and hasn’t won more than 27 games since the 2021–2022 campaign.
The 24-year-old has a 2028–29 contract with the Hornets. He is earning $37.95 million this year and is in the second year of a five-year, $203.8 million contract with the team.
