LaMelo Ball, the Charlotte Hornets’ emerging star, and his team are being sued for allegedly running over an 11-year-old fan’s foot. According to Jason Stoogenke of WEOCTV.com, Tamaria McRae filed the case on behalf of her son Angell Joseph, alleging that Bal hurt Joseph while fans were lining up for autographs after the October event.
In reliving the events before the incident, McRae recalled, “Angel was like, LaMelo, I love you.” Sign that I adore you, my Please sign your autograph for me. Will you please sign it for me?”I just saw my son kind of go down and I thought maybe he had dropped something,” she continued. This was in reference to the reported incident in which Bal drove off and struck Joseph’s foot, resulting in a broken foot for the Young fan.
Cameron Debrun, the family’s attorney, clarified that because Ball’s insurer and name were left out of the police support, no claim was made to Ball’s insurance company to pay for the medical bills. Debrun said they had no choice but to turn to Bal and the Charlotte Hornets in the absence of this vital information.
The Charlotte Hornets are a party to the lawsuit because the plaintiff’s family feels that spectators close to the players should be protected with additional safety precautions.
22-year-old LaMelo Ball is well-known for his All-Star performance on the court. But lately, injuries have plagued his seasons. Due to a right ankle injury, he played in just 22 games last season but still managed to score an astounding 35.5% of the shots and average 23.9 points and eight assists per game from a distance of three points.
However, over the last two seasons, his injuries have limited him to just 58 games, which has halted the momentum he developed as the 2020–21 NBA Rookie of the Year and the following year as an All-Star. Best of luck to everyone who is involved.