After a disappointing 19-63 finish last season, the Charlotte Hornets have once again struggled to find their footing, opening this campaign with a 3-5 record. As the team searches for stability, questions persist about whether LaMelo Ball, who is suffering from an ankle injury, can evolve his game and adopt a more mature style of play to help guide the Hornets out of their ongoing struggles.

Now, this might be a tough pill to swallow for a lot of Hornets fans, as they seem to love the former lottery pick’s fancy dribbling and unorthodox passing. But for Charlotte to develop into at least a playoff contention team with LaMelo Ball at the center of it, the point guard will have to prioritize efficiency over flair. However, can he? Well, a few Western Conference scouts don’t think so.

While speaking with ESPN’s Tim Bontemps anonymously, they revealed some details about Ball that should ring alarm bells for Charlotte. “Yes, he’s talented, but he doesn’t take basketball seriously enough,” a scout said about the Hornets star. “It’s hard to build a winner with him because of how he plays, and the liberties he takes for himself when he plays... Would someone take a flier on him? For sure. But Charlotte isn’t taking a flier price for him,” he further pointed out.

Now, as alleged, there’s nothing wrong with playing with swagger, but he should not forget about winning games. More so, because even after drafting LaMelo Ball 3rd overall pick in the 2020 NBA Draft, the Hornets haven’t even come close to the playoffs in the past few years.

Well, not all of that blame should be on him, as Charlotte did surround the point guard with guys who could take them to the next level. However, that might be slowly changing.

The Hornets now have a young core they can look forward to. This includes Brandon Miller, this season’s lottery pick Kon Knueppel, and, of course, Ball himself. Although the rookie Knueppel has looked impressive, Miller and Ball haven’t been able to stay healthy early in the season. In fact, LaMelo Ball has recently had a concerning update on his injury status.

Charlotte receives worrying update on LaMelo Ball amid other injury blows

With a 3-5 record to start the season, the Charlotte Hornets aren’t giving up early as they are eager to stay competitive and push for a playoff run this season. However, their expectations might derail after new updates on their superstar point guard LaMelo Ball’s injury have emerged. Ahead of their NBA Cup showdown against the Miami Heat, the franchise announced that Ball is questionable for Friday’s game due to ankle impingement.

While it would’ve been another story if this were the first game the 24-year-old was missing as a result of these issues, that’s not the case. This is the fourth straight game LaMelo Ball has been questionable due to this problem, which is certainly not a good sign. More so, with the one-time All-Star starting his season on a good note.

So far this season, the former lottery pick has been averaging 23.3 points, along with 7.8 rebounds and 9.8 assists per game, averaging 33+ minutes in the 6 games he has played so far. Well, that’s certainly a solid stat line, but unfortunately, it seems like Ball won’t be able to add to that in the near future, as there’s no set timeline for his recovery at the moment. Although his injury alone is a massive blow, what makes it worse is that he isn’t the only one who is injured.

Ball’s teammate, and another key player for the Hornets, Brandon Miller, is also on the sidelines. The 22-year-old forward is out with a shoulder injury and is to be re-evaluated in about two weeks. Now, with LaMelo Ball also seemingly joining him in the stands, things don’t look too bright for the Hornets, as their playoff dreams seem to fade away.