The Charlotte Hornets currently own one of the league’s worst records in the NBA at 8-27. Barring a miracle, it will be the ninth-straight season that the team will miss the playoffs. While Charlotte’s wins come rather infrequently, they have a player who is averaging just shy of 30 points per contest. That would be 23-year-old LaMelo Ball.
The point guard has the ball in his hands quite often as evidenced by his league-leading 38.7% usage rate. That would be the fifth-highest usage rate in NBA history. While he does tally a good amount of assists, he certainly isn’t shy about chucking up his fair share of shots. It’s to the point that he’s shooting more frequently this season than anyone since Wilt Chamberlain.
LaMelo Ball Shooting Shots At A Rate Not Seen Since Wilt
LaMelo Ball Shooting At A Historic Rate
On the season, Ball has averaged 29.9 points per outing. Selected third overall in the 2020 NBA Draft, Ball has been available for 24 of Charlotte’s first 35 games. Calf and wrist injuries have taken him out of the lineup 11 times.
Through those 24 games, Ball has attempted on average 24.5 field goal attempts playing 33.8 minutes a game. Those totals are 589 shot attempts while playing 810 minutes. Do the math, and that is 0.727 shot attempts per minute for the 6-foot-7 point guard. He has been bombs away from beyond the arc as 313 of his field goal attempts are three-point tries.
In case you didn’t realize, that means he is attempting shots at a crazy rate. It would be a rate that hasn’t been seen since the mid-1960s (Michael Jordan had an oh-so-slightly higher rate in 1985-86, but he only played in 18 games). The stat was brought up by Jorge Sierra of HoopsHype.
LaMelo Ball is taking the most shots per minute since Wilt Chamberlain in 1965
Wilt Chamberlain (1961-62): 0.814Elgin Baylor (1961-62): 0.746Wilt Chamberlain (1964-65): 0.731Wilt Chamberlain (1962-63): 0.728LAMELO BALL (2024-25): 0.727Michael Jordan (1985-86): 0.727
— HoopsHype (@hoopshypeofficial.bsky.social) 2025-01-12T10:59:44.086Z
Wilt Chamberlain’s One Of Many Records
When it comes to who put up the most ridiculous seasonal averages ever, Wilt Chamberlain takes the cake. The 7-foot-1 legendary center won the scoring title in each of his first six seasons and was named league MVP four times.
When it comes to shots per minute, Chamberlain is also just one of two players ever to have a higher average than Ball thus far in 2024-25. Playing for the San Francisco Warriors in 1961-62, Chamberlain had the highest single-season scoring average of 50.4 points. That season, he also attempted 0.814 shots per minute, highest in league history. He also has the third and fourth-highest shot attempt rates ever (0.731 per minute in 1964-65 and 0.728 in 1962-63).
The only other player with a higher rate of shots attempted in a season is Elgin Baylor. During his fourth season in 1961-62, he attempted 0.746 shots per minute in 1961-62. He did just play 48 games during that season. Chamberlain played in 80, 80, and 73 contests in the three seasons mentioned.
Ball can play a maximum of 71 games in 2024-25, which of course would require him to not miss any more games this season. Injuries have played a substantial role in derailing his career at times, as Ball only appeared in 58 total games over the previous two seasons. We will see how many shot attempts he gets up in their next game which comes Sunday night at the Phoenix Suns.
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