LaMelo Ball Takes the Crown as the NBA’s Biggest Gunner

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NBA Odds and News: LaMelo Ball Takes the Crown as the NBA’s Biggest Gunner

Cam Thomas was supposed to take the throne, but LaMelo Ball has come to claim the title of the NBA’s biggest gunner. The Charlotte Hornets point guard is attempting 24.4 shots per game this season, the highest mark since James Harden in the 2018-19 season.

In his last three games, Ball has attempted 95 shots (31.7 per game), 36 more than Shai Gilgeous-Alexander during the same stretch. For the season, the difference between his 414 field-goal attempts and the 363 of De’Aaron Fox, who ranks second, tells the story.

LaMelo Ball’s Evolution: A Shooter or a Pass-First Point Guard?

It’s impressive to see how LaMelo has evolved into a three-level scorer with an exceptional mid-range game. However, the question arises: is he moving away from his original role as a pass-first point guard? Ball entered the NBA with that reputation, following his time at Chino Hills and his international experience, where he emulated his older brother’s fast-paced, Showtime Lakers-style basketball.

This joyful, unselfish style of play carried over to the NBA, where he averaged 8.4 assists in his second season as a starter and repeated that with 8 assists the following year. However, this season, his assists have dropped to 6.9, and troublingly, many of his passes have come at the end of the shot clock. The best indicator of this shift is his extraordinarily high usage percentage (USG%) of 37.8, 6.3 percentage points higher than his previous career high of 31.5. In the 2022-23 season, when he averaged 8.4 assists, his USG% was only 27.1, indicating that he passed the ball earlier in the shot clock and didn’t emulate James Harden’s style in Houston.

LaMelo Ball: A Great Shooter, But at What Cost?

If LaMelo isn’t careful, he could quickly earn the reputation of an empty-calorie scorer, as his Hornets are 6-11 despite his heroic performances. Over the past three games, he became the first player in franchise history to score 35+ points in three consecutive games, but he was just a Brandon Miller block away from going 0-3 in that stretch.

At 23, Ball also has the chance to become the youngest player to average over 30 points per game in a season since Oscar Robertson. Given that he has the biggest green light in the NBA, it’s a safe bet he’ll set this record.

What Do the NBA Odds Say?

With LaMelo Ball leading the team, the NBA ODDS for the Hornets remain intriguing, even though their win-loss record doesn’t reflect the individual brilliance of their point guard. As he continues to break scoring records, bettors will be watching how his style of play impacts Charlotte’s future and whether he can take his team beyond being just a collection of individual stats.