Report: Hornets' LaMelo Ball (ankle) out for season

Charlotte Hornets guard LaMelo Ball will be out for the season with a fractured right ankle, per Shams Charania of The Athletic. Ball suffered the injury in Charlotte’s 117-106 home win against Detroit on Monday.

Hornets All-Star LaMelo Ball will miss the remainder of the season with his fractured right ankle, sources tell @TheAthletic @Stadium. Ball has had multiple left ankle sprains this season before suffering the right ankle fracture on Monday night.

— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) February 28, 2023

Ball finished with 18 points on 6-of-7 shooting from 3-point range, his fifth straight game making at least five 3s. He was hurt on a non-contact play in the third, and the Hornets announced after the game that X-rays revealed a fracture to his right ankle.

Hornets veteran Gordon Hayward said Charlotte’s players didn’t find out about the severity of the injury until after the game, with most of them figuring Ball had just tweaked something.

“It’s certainly disappointing because he’s a major part of our team and we felt like we were rounding the corner,” Hayward said.

Ball’s other ankle has been bothersome this season — he’s sprained his left ankle three ties, limiting him to 36 games.

This time, Ball hurt his right ankle as he was he was dribbling and attempting to make a move near half court. Ball fell down, but managed to prevent the ball from going out of bounds. He left the game and did not return.

The 2020-21 Kia Rookie of the Year, Ball is averaging 23.3 points, 6.4 rebounds and 8.4 assists per game and was an All-Star in 2021-22.

Hornets coach Steve Clifford didn’t say how long Ball would be out. Charlotte has 19 games left and isn’t in playoff contention, so it would be hard to imagine the team rushing him back.

“It’s just a basketball ankle and there is nothing that you can do about that,” Clifford said.

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.