Hornets guard LaMelo Ball is expected to play against the Rockets a day after being in a car crash

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Charlotte Hornets point guard LaMelo Ball is not listed on the team’s injury report and is expected to play Thursday night against the Houston Rockets, one day after being involved in a two-car crash in Charlotte.

The Hornets are one of the NBA’s hottest teams having won 10 of their last 11 games and Ball is a big reason for that success.

Ball appeared to be driving through an intersection when his camouflage-colored, custom-made Hummer collided with another vehicle Wednesday, according to video obtained by WSOC-TV in Charlotte. The station later posted video of Ball, wearing an aqua-colored Hornets hoodie, getting out his truck and into another car before being driven away. Police were on the scene at the time.

A police report has not been made available.

There was no information available on the person in the other car involved in the collision, although video showed that driver calmly get out of his car and begin walking toward Ball’s truck after the crash.

Video showed the left front tire of Ball’s truck was missing.

Ball is just the latest professional sports athlete to be involved in a car crash in Charlotte.

Former Carolina Panthers quarterback Cam Newton fractured his back in a 2014 crash in which he flipped his pickup truck near Bank of America Stadium — less than a mile from where Ball’s crash occurred.

And in 2024, Panthers current backup quarterback Andy Dalton injured his thumb when he was involved in a two-car crash in Charlotte.

Former Hornets guard Bobby Phills was killed in a car crash at age 30 following a practice on Jan. 12, 2000.

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