LaMelo Ball's fourth quarter benching leaves Charlotte Hornets fans baffled

Matt Alquiza | Nov 19, 2024

Nov 19, 2024; Brooklyn, New York, USA; Charlotte Hornets guard LaMelo Ball (1) loses the ball after being fouled by Brooklyn Nets guard Ben Simmons (10) during the first quarter at Barclays Center. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-Imagn Images / Brad Penner-Imagn Images

Winning time had become LaMelo Ball time through a month of the 2024-25 NBA season. The Charlotte Hornets star point guard's fourth quarter exploits were his calling card, leading the league in winning time scoring as he dazzled down the stretch night after night.

Oddly, he wasn't given the chance to perform in crunch time on Wednesday night.

Charles Lee, the first-year head coach of the Charlotte Hornets, decided to bench Ball in the fourth quarter of Charlotte's NBA Cup loss in Brooklyn. It was a tough night for Ball on the stat sheet (12 points on 3/13 shooting with four fouls and turnovers to boot), but Lee benching his superstar shot creator in a close game was a baffling decision.

Ball was sat down after committing a silly foul on a Brooklyn ball handler in the back court. LaMelo had just missed a wild floater attempt that he felt he was fouled on, turned up the floor, glared at the referee, and hacked a Net to take out his frustration.

Tre Mann, Charlotte's ace in the hole, replaced Ball with three and a half minutes left in the contest and never looked back. To be fair, Mann was on an extended heater that began late in the third quarter, but again, this is LaMelo Ball we're talking about. Hornets fans had some choice words following the decision.

benching LaMelo Ball in crunch time of a very close game is kinda crazy Coach Charles Lee

— 73-9 and THEY LIED (@CuffsTheLegend) November 20, 2024

So now Lamelo Ball spends most of the game on the bench when he averages almost 38 minutes? Great

— Courtesy (@DG_Courtesy) November 20, 2024

Even with Charlotte down three with 5.5 seconds left, Lee left his main man on the bench. Brandon Miller was forced into taking a wild three point attempt that went flailing while LaMelo was rooted to the bench watching the game-tying attempt fall to the wayside.

Ball had been nails down the stretch in close games up until this point. His bombastic three-point shooting draws the headlines, but the meat of his fourth-quarter success had come in the paint. During Saturday's win against the Milwaukee Bucks, Ball was relentless in his attempts to get to the cup, eventually drawing two free throws that won the game for Charlotte.

The Hornets fell to 5-9 overall and 0-2 in the NBA Cup at the hands of the Nets, and Ball's benching will be the biggest story coming out of tonight's game. Sitting Ball for a minute or two after a couple of poor fourth quarter decisions is a defendable decision, benching him for the last three-and-a-half minutes in a close game is a mind-blowing one.

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