The Charlotte Hornets’ dismal 2022-23 season grew even worse on Monday night. While they picked up their 20th win of the season over Detroit, they saw their star guard LaMelo Ball suffer his fourth ankle injury of the season, this time fracturing his right ankle on a non-contact play.
After three left ankle sprains cost him time at various points throughout the season, Ball’s 22-23 campaign came to an official end on Tuesday when word broke that his fractured ankle will result in him sitting out the remainder of the season, per Shams Charania.
Hornets All-Star LaMelo Ball will miss the remainder of the season with his fractured right ankle, sources tell @TheAthletic @Stadium. Ball has had multiple left ankle sprains this season before suffering the right ankle fracture on Monday night.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) February 28, 2023
It is a disappointing end to a season full of stops and starts for Ball, who will hope to regroup this offseason and see the Hornets add another foundational piece around him via the draft so they can have a bounceback in 2023-24. Ball will end his season with averages of 23.3 points, 8.4 assists, and 6.4 rebounds per game on 41.4/37.6/83.6 shooting splits, serving as one of the few bright spots in Charlotte this year.
As the Hornets close out the final 19 games of the season, they will continue to monitor the progress of rookie Mark Williams and shift attention to the offseason, where there is considerable roster work to be done to vault themselves back into the playoff contender tier in the East.