LaMelo Ball gets to experience his first basketball homecoming Thursday night when the Charlotte Hornets visit the Los Angeles Lakers.
The NBA rookie played his high school ball at Chino Hills High School, 39 miles east of Staples Center, where he teamed with older brothers Lonzo and LiAngelo for an undefeated state-championship season in 2016. Lonzo Ball now plays for the New Orleans Pelicans, and another of their Chino Hills teammates, Onyeka Okongwu, currently plays for the Atlanta Hawks.
LaMelo was a freshman at the time. He played just one more year of high school ball at the school before he bounced around from a professional league in Lithuania, the SPIRE Institute and Academy in Ohio and then the top Australian pro league before becoming eligible for the NBA draft.