The reemergence of LiAngelo Ball in mainstream media the past few weeks seemingly came out of nowhere. The middle child of the infamous Ball family, Gelo is best known for his missteps while at UCLA and being the only Ball brother to not find success in the league.
But that could change – very soon. And it should. LiAngelo Ball is the perfect story of getting a second chance and making the most of it. A guy who has been publicly ridiculed because of his last name and his inability to reach the peaks of his brothers, in addition to making a very public mistake in college, has been quietly working at his game to prove the world wrong.
And prove the world wrong he has. LiAngelo has showed off unbelievable shooting prowess while playing with the Charlotte Hornets (LaMelo stars for their NBA team) during Summer League, shooting 41.7% from deep on 6 attempts per game. Does his decision-making and all-around play still need work to become a guy who gets 15+ minutes per game in the league? Absolutely. But his ability to thrive both with and against Summer League rosters has proven that he deserves a chance to compete against the best in the world.
big sequence for LiAngelo Ball, Gus Johnson on the call pic.twitter.com/la8e4YKe6L
— Rob Perez (@WorldWideWob) August 15, 2021
This is only a small example, but Wob’s video above shows everything you need to see from Gelo:
Aggressive drive to the lane and ability to finish, followed by lockdown defense on the #4 overall pick, Scottie Barnes, followed by a three on the fast-break.
As a die-hard Sixers fan, I can tell you that this skill set is extremely valuable. I would go as far to say that LiAngelo Ball is currently a better end-of-bench option than a few of our current players, and I would be thrilled to take a chance on him were he to get released by the Hornets.
I personally am rooting for Gelo to have a long NBA career. He has taken his second chance, worked his ass off, and is now making the most of it on a fairly large scale. There are not many people that could have gone through the past ~5 years LiAngelo has and come back better than ever, but that is exactly what he has done.
No matter what happens next, LiAngelo Ball deserves our praise and attention. Keep shooting, Gelo.