Moment of great concern in Charlotte, when LaMelo Ball and coach Charles Lee had a dangerous head-to-head clash. The coach had bent down to catch a ball that was going off the field, without realizing that his point guard had jumped to try to keep it on the field: the two had a nasty clash in which Ball got the worst of it, remaining on the ground for several minutes holding his face. The player had to come off due to a cut to his eye which required a stitch, but he then returned to the field and was decisive in his team’s comeback from -22, scoring 24 points with 8 rebounds. After the game, as is now tradition, Coach Lee put on a hard hat and playfully chased the point guard, with the two then embracing to celebrate the Hornets’ seventh consecutive victory
“I was stupid,” Lee admitted after the match. “I took a break play and there can’t be any. I thought the ball was going out and I wanted to prevent it from going into the stands, but I didn’t see him coming. We totally caught it. You have to give credit to LaMelo: he didn’t yell at me too much and wanted to get back on the field straight away. I loved his spirit, it shows how much he’s grown by leaving even a blow like that behind him. He gave the team a big hand.” For his part, LaMelo commented: “It was unpleasant, but hey, I’m still alive and breathing, so who cares? We won, that’s what matters.”
