The Best of the Day: February 8th, 2021

 LaMelo Ball is already showing his MVP potential now that he’s in the starting lineup

Among a tightly contested Rookie of the Year race, LaMelo Ball is starting to emerge as the clear favorite. Charlotte has finally started to insert the young rook into the starting lineup in each of the last five games and he’s rewarded them with the best five-game stretch of his career thus far, averaging 22.6 PPG, 6.6 APG, and 6.0 RPG on an astonishing 51.4% 3P. It seems the confidence Ball has as a starter has directly led to more success from behind the arc and being more aggressive. 

It’s unknown whether Ball will maintain a spot in the starting five considering PG Devonte’ Graham, SG Terry Rozier, or PF PJ Washington have missed each of those games, so LaMelo naturally moved up from 6th man to starter. There’s no telling whether that will continue if all six are healthy but if Charlotte was smart, they’d hand the keys to the youngest Ball brother right now. He’s already shown glimpses of greatness with a skillset similar to some of the best players in the game. 

He can shoot 3’s at a high level already, has natural passing abilities, and owns a finishing package at the rim that’ll lead to an abundance of highlights. PSO pointed out he has a MVP-caliber ceiling in his NBA Draft scouting report because of his ability to impact the game in a variety of ways and is already showing his sky-high potential as the youngest player ever to to drain seven 3PM in a game while also racking up double-digit assists. Who knows when Ball will reach that lofty ceiling but until then, enjoy the show.  

COLORS KEY | FULL HORNETS FUTURE OUTLOOK 

19-year-old LaMelo Ball is the youngest player in NBA history with 7 threes & the youngest Hornet with 20 PTS/10 AST.

24 PTS (game-high)
10 AST (game-high)
7 3PT (game-high)
7 REB
in 32 MINSpic.twitter.com/HS67BAchi8

— Ballislife.com (@Ballislife) February 9, 2021

LaMelo Ball’s last 6 games:

24 PTS - 7 REB - 10 AST
19 PTS - 7 REB - 5 AST
34 PTS - 4 REB - 8 AST
22 PTS - 7 REB - 3 AST
14 PTS - 5 REB - 7 AST
27 PTS - 5 REB - 9 AST

Kid is special pic.twitter.com/pvvQnfgzkV

— NBACentral (@TheDunkCentral) February 9, 2021

Related: NBA Takeaways of the Day