LaMelo Ball did not play well in his much-anticipated NBA debut for the Charlotte Hornets. The third overall pick in the NBA draft had zero points, missing all five of his shot attempts. Three of those attempts were from beyond the three-point line. He had three assists, one rebound, two steals, and three turnovers in just under 16 minutes of playing time.
After the game, which the Hornets lost to the Cleveland Cavaliers by a score of 121-114, Ball's teammates told him not to get down on himself.
"I told him just to forget this one," Gordon Hayward told reporters. "There's going to be so many nights where he is, you know, playing his game and playing really well. So, I said, 'Don't worry about this one at all. We all know the type of player that you are.' Some days are diamonds, some days are stones, and I think it's something where it's his first game and, you know, those things happen. But I have ultimate confidence in LaMelo. I think he's going to be a great player this year and for many, many years and a great player in this league, and so I think he'll be all right."
Ball joins Greg Oden, Hasheem Thabeet, and Otto Porter Jr. as the fourth player drafted in the top three to go scoreless in his NBA debut.
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