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NBA: Another chance for LiAngelo, the ‘sandwich brother’ of the Ball family

LThe sandwich brother theory talks about the difficulties of middle siblings, who do not receive the attention of the first-born or the care of the little ones. It could be extrapolated to basketball and, specifically, to the Ball family media. There is the oldest, Lonzo, settled in the NBA and recently traded to the promising Bulls, with whom he could win $ 85 million in four years. LaMelo, the youngest, has been named rookie of the year last season. LiAngelo, the mediator, has not played a single game in the NBA.

But the 22-year-old and 1.96-meter guard is facing a new opportunity to enter the League and is trying to squeeze it. Playing for the Hornets is one of the names in the Summer League. In the debut against the Blazers he added 16 points in 16 minutes with 5/8 in triples. In the second game, against the Kings he had 10 points and five rebounds.

So far, all of LiAngelo’s attempts to gain a foothold in the NBA have failed. He was not drafted, in the 19-20 season, when he was about to make his debut with the Oklahoma City Blue, affiliates of the Thunder in the G League, the competition was suspended due to the pandemic, the Pistons had him on staff for 11 days but not They gave him not a minute in the friendlies … Now he has another chance.

It all started when the Hornets secluded themselves in a kind of bubble in which each player could invite a person to train. LaMelo chose his brother LiAngelo. Those responsible for the franchise saw the evolutions of the middle brother and thought that perhaps the NBA had closed the doors to him many times and too soon. They made him a hole in the Summer League squad and there he tries to get on the train.

So far, LiAngelo has been more of a protagonist off the court than on. Like when he was about to enter UCLA University and, on a tour of China, he was arrested along with two colleagues for stealing glasses from a Louis Vuitton store. That even splashed on President Donald Trump. The guard was suspended indefinitely by the university and together with his father, the controversial LaVar Ball, they decided that he would not play in the NCAA.

He left with his brother LaMelo to the Lithuanian League, where they served in the Prienai Vytautas. The risky adventure did not end well. He then played in the competition created by his father for youth who did not play in the NCAA. He enlisted in the Los Angeles Ballers and was the MVP of that family league. Then came those minimal opportunities to play in the NBA that did not bear fruit and now, finally, perhaps he is facing the good.

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