What happened to LaMelo Ball? Closer look as Hornets' guard ruled out for reminder of the 2023-24 NBA season

While LaMelo Ball has impressed when on the floor, the young All-Star has battled multiple injuries in his early career. News emerged Thursday morning that the former No. 2 pick is going to miss the remainder of the season as he rehabs an ankle injury.

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Ball suffered this injury earlier in the year, but managed to come back for a short stretch. However, he's remainded sidelined since leaving a game against the Houston Rockets early in January. Since then, he missed 29 missed 29 games for the Hornets. With just a few weeks to go in the season, the team deicded to shut him down as he continues to rehab his ankle.

At the start of the year, it looked like LaMelo Ball was in the midst of another All-Star season. Now that he's officially done for the year, he'll have played in just 22 games this year. In that time, he averaged 23.9 points, 5.1 rebounds and 8.0 assists.

Without ball, the Hornets have struggled to stay competitive. Led by rookie standout Brandon Miller, they have the third-worst record in the Eastern Conference at 18-54.

LaMelo Ball has another season cut short due to injury

When the Charlotte Hornets first drafted LaMelo Ball, they were hoping to get a player who could be a pillar for the franchise. He lived up to the hype of being a No. 2 pick early on, but things have started to go off the rails for him.

Ball had an impressive rookie season, taking home the Rookie of the Year award. He followed that up by averaging 20 PPG in year two and being named an All-Star. Since then, he's struggled to be on the floor for the Hornets.

Similar to this year, LaMelo Ball battled injury for a majority of last season. He ended suiting up in just 36 games, 14 more than he did in 2024. With him out for the year now, Ball's games played total across the past two seasons is only 58.

LaMelo is having similar issues staying on the court as his old brother, Lonzo Ball. The former lottery pick has missed the last two seasons as he continues to deal with a knee injury.

On thing LaMelo has going for him is that he is still young. He'll turn 23 about a month before training camp gets ready to begin. With his prime still so far away, the Hornets still have time to get the star guard right from a physical standpoint.

At one point, LaMelo was on track to be one of the NBA's brighest young stars. As he continues to deal with injuries, some might start to consider him a what if.