After reports earlier this week indicated that LiAngelo Ball would enter the NBA G League ahead of the upcoming season, the 22-year-old has decided to instead sign a deal with a specific organization.
Sources: The Charlotte Hornets have signed LiAngelo Ball to a non-guaranteed contract and Ball will play for the team’s G League Greensboro Swarm. Ball was slated to enter the G League Draft but signing allows Charlotte to acquire his rights. https://t.co/YpkouKLWAs
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) October 14, 2021
“>According to NBA insider Shams Charania, Ball has signed a non-guaranteed contract with the Charlotte Hornets. Doing so allows the organization to claim his rights and for him to have a spot with the team’s G League affiliate, the Greensboro Swarm.
The middle Ball brother played for the Hornets during Summer League, where he averaged 9.6 points in 17.4 minutes per game. The highlight of his appearance with Charlotte during the multi-week experience in Las Veags came when he hit an absurd buzzer-beater against the San Antonio Spurs.
Of course, Ball’s younger brother, LaMelo plays with the Hornets top roster and won Rookie of the Year for his performance last season. The connection surely helped LiAngelo get an in with the organization and whatever he did over the summer impressed the team enough for earn him this opportunity for the upcoming year.
The non-guaranteed contract with the Hornets will be a welcome development for Ball, who hasn’t had the most straightforward path at the professional level.
Ball’s first opportunity in the NBA came with the Oklahoma City Blue of the NBA G League in March of 2020. Unfortunately, the season got cut short due to COVID-19 and he wasn’t able to appear in a game.
Ball later spent part of training camp with the Detroit Pistons in 2020 but was waived without appearing in a preseason game.
After leaving UCLA in the midst of an indefinite suspension from the program, Ball started playing professionally in 2018. He briefly saw time with Lithuanian professional team Prienai Vytautas and the Los Angeles Ballers of the Junior Basketball Association.
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