LaMelo Ball and the Hornets are being sued by a North Carolina woman who claims Ball allegedly struck her son with his vehicle during an attempt to obtain Ball’s autograph, according to ESPN’s Baxter Holmes.
The lawsuit was filed on Tuesday. The alleged incident occurred in October 2023, when the Hornets hosted a fan event at the Spectrum Center in Charlotte.
A number of fans, including the woman’s 11-year-old son, approached Ball’s vehicle at a traffic light. According to the lawsuit, when the light turned green, Ball drove “in a grossly negligent and reckless manner in that he accelerated his vehicle forward suddenly and without warning and struck” her son, “severely injuring him.” She claimed that Ball then left the scene.
The youngster suffered foot and back injuries due to the incident, according to the lawsuit.
We have more from around the basketball world:
- The Pelicans’ CJ McCollum was chosen for the J. Walter Kennedy Citizenship Award by the Pro Basketball Writers’ Association (Twitter link). The honor is presented annually by the PBWA to a player, coach or athletic trainer who shows outstanding service and dedication to the community. McCollum was honored for his extensive community work in and around New Orleans, with a focus on education, social-justice reform and efforts to provide equitable resources and opportunities for youth.
- The Australian National Team recently announced a 17-man roster that will take part in the official training camp in late June, before two games against China in Melbourne on July 2 and 4. The roster will then be pared to 12 players for the Paris Olympics. ESPN’s Olgun Uluc breaks down the roster player by player to determine who will make the cut. Josh Giddey, Jock Landale, Josh Green and Dante Exum are among the NBA players Uluc considers locks to make the squad.
- Kendrick Nunn is thriving overseas but he has not ruled out an NBA return. Get the details here.
Why are you approaching someones car??? They are clearly not going to stop in the middle of traffic and sign an autograph. Meet him at the needed time. Some fans are so entitled.
Some people can smell money from far away. I’m questioning how she is not being charged with some form of child neglect/endangerment for willingly allowing her 11 year old to enter traffic.
All that said, there are many videos showing Melo driving recklessly and stupidly. Again, some people can smell money from far away.
How is it the Hornets fault? That is a even bigger question since it didn’t happen at the arena.
It occurred during a team event.
It did happen at the Spectrum Center, at the exit from the arena parking lot. I would guess the team and arena management would be parties in any legal action. I would also guess that, in the future, a guard will be posted in the area to clear the path.
They werent in the middle of the street, it was said they were waiting at the exit of the arena. The Hornets clearly allowed them to be there and if LaMelo drove reckelessly around that many people and that ended up broking a kid’s foot then yeah he is guilty
“Ended up broking a kid’s foot”
Who let these people have opinions?
Another frivolous lawsuit, chasing the $$$!!!
I am sure the mother threw the kid to the car for the payday, if it happened at all, which I very much doubt it did!
The light turned green and “he accelerated his vehicle forward suddenly and without warning”?
What else was he supposed to do?
Drive slowly around pedestrians and not peel out your Lambo…
C.J. McCollum. Here’s a career anyone can be proud of both on and off the court. But folks like to talk about reckless driving and stupidity. We tend to like the titillating soap opera stuff, huh?
You’re upset that CJ winning a NBA writers award wasn’t the top story?
“When the light turned green… he accelerated his vehicle forward suddenly and without warning”
The light turning green would be the warning.
Pedestrians always have the right away, because they are people standing and your in a car…
Pedestrians don’t always have the right-of-way, but drivers on public roadways must always do their part to avoid causing them harm. This could easily be a situation where the kid approached the vehicle and LaMelo didn’t know the kid’s foot was in the path of the tire, though.
she heard about scottie and now wants in
So, Melo is at a red light and his car is surrounded by autograph seekers. The light turns green and he accelerates, supposedly hitting the kid.
Can someone explain to me how this is Melo’s fault? Why are people surrounding his car at a red light? When the light goes green, why are those people still standing there?
Please Melo, don’t pay these people off to go away. See this through so that the case gets dismissed with you not being held liable for someone’s stupidity. Make this a teaching session to those to need to understand boundaries, privacy and how traffic lights work.
That lawsuit is only even happening because LaMelo is famous, but it’s probably going to get dismissed. The mother doesn’t have a case at all. The kid shouldn’t have been entering the road at all, she shouldn’t have *allowed* her kid to approach a running vehicle in the street, and Ball didn’t disobey traffic laws according to what’s been made public.
Granted, LaMelo is a *terrible* reckless driver, so who knows? I’m honestly surprised that this is the first time he’s (allegedly) hit someone.
I cant stop laughing at this lawsuit
Poor parenting righy there. My parents would have made sure I wasn’t close enough to get clipped by the car, and if I did, obviously they’d be mad, but still probably more at me for not listening to their warnings to not be that close.
is his autograph worth anything anymore?