Amid a logjam of guards on the Charlotte Hornets, LaMelo Ball’s future with the franchise has constantly been rumored to be in peril as the new ownership considers a total rebuild.
But there was once a chance that LaMelo Ball could have been on the Timberwolves or the Warriors, before falling to the third overall pick in 2020’s virtual NBA draft behind Anthony Edwards and James Wiseman.
NBA Insider Jon Krawczynski, in his recent appearance on ‘The Zach Lowe Show’, claimed that a part of the reason why the Timberwolves decided to move on from finalizing LaMelo Ball as the first overall pick from the draft that year was due to his bad interview with the franchise before the draft.
“2020 Draft preparation. Gersson Rosas is leading the front office. They are working around the clock because at the time, if you remember, there were three guys at number one. It’s Edwards, it’s James Wiseman, it’s LaMelo Ball.
“And you’re like, I don’t know what the right pick is. These guys are all, you’re trying to figure this out. You’re trying to get to the bottom of it.”
“So, we know they picked Edwards. But that’s not my little nugget for you all. It’s why they picked Edwards. There were a million different reasons in their evaluation.”
“But one of them was that they had an interview with LaMelo Ball during this process—trying to figure out, ‘Hey, is this the guy for us?’ And LaMelo… did not interview very well.”
“One of the questions they asked him was: ‘Hey LaMelo, after you’re done playing, what do you see yourself doing? What kind of things do you aspire to?’ And LaMelo said: ‘I want to be President of the United States,’” said Krawczynski as the crowd erupted in laughter.
While in the initial short run, Ball was the rookie of the year and seemed like the better pick, eventually Edwards showed more consistency and became a bigger star than Ball is today.
LaMelo Ball has averaged 21.1 points, 7.5 assists, and 6.0 rebounds in six seasons while shooting 36.4% from the three-point line since he was drafted in 2020. He earned only one All-Star appearance and hasn’t yet played in the Playoffs for the Hornets.
Meanwhile, Anthony Edwards averaged 23.9 points, 5.3 rebounds, and 4.2 assists, while shooting 36.7% from the three-point line in the same duration. However, he earned three All-Star appearances and carried the Timberwolves to the Playoffs in three seasons.
Moreover, his impact on winning basketball in Minnesota is much higher than what Ball is for Charlotte. Therefore, the Timberwolves are likely delighted with their choice in hindsight, considering that even now, Ball is criticized for not taking basketball seriously.
But the criteria of considering his response to a question of whether or not he would replace arguably the most powerful person in the world at the position of the President of the United States (POTUS) seems a bit arbitrary to me.
While it indicates his inclination to force in politics into a team sport, if given the opportunity, anyone would like to replace the most powerful position in the world. Being aspirational and wanting the best for your people as the leader of the franchise are also positive takeaways from such a response.
