NBA season preview: 5 players most likely to be first-time All-Stars

3. LaMelo Ball – Guard – Charlotte Hornets

One of the most electric players in the NBA last season was Charlotte Hornets rookie LaMelo Ball. The youngest of the famous Ball brothers declined an invite to the All-Star Skills Challenge last year after he wasn’t invited to the big game. Because of the pandemic, there wasn’t a Rising Skills Challenge, so there wasn’t a game to showcase his skills, so he ended up declining the invite to Atlanta.

Despite suffering a major injury late last season, Ball was still able to win the NBA’s Rookie of the Year. Ball is a playmaker at heart. Not only can he make his own shot, but he makes all of his teammates better on the court. There were concerns about him coming out that he might not play with that in mind, but Ball knows his best route to stardom is getting the rest of his teammates involved in his scoring ability.

It seems a lot of people are still in “wait-and-see” mode with Ball. FanSided named him 12th on the 25 under 25 list, showing he’s still not in that upper echelon of young players. That is going to be extra motivation for a player that is ready to take another step forward. He will easily make the Rising Stars Challenge next year, but he will also be named to the real thing.