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LaMelo Ball is being sued by a woman who claims that the Charlotte Hornets star ran over her 11-year-old son’s foot and broke it.
According to the plaintiff Tamaria McRae, LaMelo drove over her son Angell Joseph’s foot as he was asking for an autograph. The Hornets organization has also been named in the lawsuit, which sees her seeking at least $25,000 each for her and her son.
“[Angell] was like, ‘LaMelo, I love you. I love you, sign my … give me your autograph. Can you sign it for me?’” McRae told Action 9.
“She says Ball did not sign anything and drove off. ‘I just seen my son kind of go down and I thought maybe he had dropped something,’ she said. But she says Angell had not dropped anything, that Ball had driven over his foot, breaking it.”
After the news about the lawsuit against LaMelo broke, a video on Twitter showing him routinely driving recklessly when leaving the Hornets’ home arena of the Spectrum Center went viral. One clip even shows him blatantly blowing through a busy red light.
he definitely did it too – heres a compilation of LaMelo leaving the Hornets arena while being an awful driver pic.twitter.com/sOHeRFCpgY https://t.co/06CGdx5mj1
— IcyVert (@IcyVert) May 21, 2024
In addition to his months-long physical recovery, McRae also said that her now 12-year-old son had to go through an emotional recovery as well due to depression from not being able to go out and be with his friends.
“For a while, I couldn’t even recognize who my child was because, like depression, not being able to go outside and play. When you see your children hurt, it hurts you. It’s been rough. It’s been real rough. I mean like I’m a strong person. This broke me. This right here, it really did,” McRae said.
Ball, 22 years old, was drafted by the Charlotte Hornets with the 3rd overall pick in the 2020 NBA Draft. He was named Rookie of the Year in 2021 and to his first All-Star game in 2022. Ball hasn’t been able to play in may games, however, as he’s made just 58 starts over the last two seasons.