Getty Image
The NBA has made a concerted effort to minimize the number of games star players miss over the course of the season, but there’s only so much those guys can do to avoid injury—a reality a LaMelo Ball superfan learned the hard way after flying from Australia to watch him play.
LaMelo has easily emerged as the most talented member of the trio of Ball Brothers who became impossible to ignore courtesy of their father LaVar, and the guard (who was selected by the Charlotte Hornets with the third overall pick in the 2020 NBA Draft) has more than held his own since entering the league.
Plenty of people didn’t believe Ball had the makings of an NBA player when he was still in high school, but his decision to forgo college in favor of Australia’s National Basketball League worked out very well for him. His stellar performance during his time with the Illawarra Hawks caused his draft stock to skyrocket, and he’s continued to improve over the past few years.
Ball suffered a major setback in 2023 courtesy of a broken ankle that required him to undergo season-ending surgery in March, and while he was able to bounce back prior to the start of the current campaign, he missed Tuesday’s showdown against the Kings after spraining the same joint for the second time in close to a month.
The Hornets were able to come away with the 111-104 victory, but Ball’s injury was still a particularly brutal development for a kid named Max who showed up to Sacramento with a sign that said he traveled close to 8,000 miles from Australia just to watch LaMelo play.
All the way from Australia! 🦘
This @hornets fan is a real one! pic.twitter.com/zKcAW705X0
— Bally Sports: Hornets (@HornetsOnBally) January 3, 2024
It’s safe to assume Max will be getting some sort of consolation prize in the form of some autographed swag at some point in the near future, but you still have to feel pretty bad for him.