Angell Joseph is the name of a young 11-year-old boy who loved LaMelo Ball. The young fan went with his mother to get the player’s autograph following an October 7 event and was allegedly run over by the Charlotte player’s car. This is why Tamaria Rae has decided to sue both the athlete and the Hornets on behalf of her son, who still recovers from a foot injury.
The mother assured the press that Angell’s foot was broken during the incident. “[Angell] was like, ‘LaMelo, I love you. I love you, sign my… give me your autograph. Can you sign it for me?’” she recalled of the moments before LaMelo allegedly drove off from the arena.
At the moment, she didn’t think too much of it, as his son simply went down to the floor. “I just seen my son kind of go down and I thought maybe he had dropped something,” Rae said, until she realized moments later it was a serious injury.
Someone compiled clips of LaMelo Ball’s reckless and dangerous driving out of the Charlotte Hornets arena 😳 pic.twitter.com/6C48PDc6E6
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) May 22, 2024
Now it is up to Cameron DeBrun, the family’s lawyer to find justice for young Joseph. The attorney assured that no claim has been filed against LaMelo’s insurance company because the police didn’t even include the insurer’s name in the case.
This is why DeBrun said that without this information, they didn’t have any other choice but to take legal actions against Ball and the Charlotte organization, who were named in the lawsuit because the family believes that they should have more safety measures to protects fans who wish to meet the team’s athletes.
Once a promising young star, LaMelo Ball has been limited to only 58 matches during the last two NBA campaigns due to ankle issues. The last time he played for Charlotte was back in January 26. This is why the point guard is again considering wearing protective braces to avoid future injuries.
In other words, the 2022 All-Star is willing to leave vanity aside and do anything in his power to keep him healthy and on the court. “I’m going to see over the summer, try some stuff,” Ball said of the ankle braces. The player then added that if he can find something that feels good, then “we can go from there.”
LaMelo said recently that he hopes to spend the summer competing and staying healthy ahead of the next campaign
Now that the ankle is finally better, he’s concentrating on competing to his best and staying healthy throughout the summer. “My favorite thing to do is play basketball and to not be able to do it is just horrible,” the star said. “That fact that I got this summer (to be healthy), I’m going to take it and get it as strong I can to get out there and play.”
The 22-year-old is considered a sort of cornerstone for the Hornets, as he was doing great this season before he got injured again. The athlete, who signed a rookie max extension last offseason that will pay him up to $260 million over the next five years, was averaging 23.9 points, 8 assists and 5.1 rebounds per contest while shooting 36% from three-pointers.
The Charlotte administration is convinced that if they pair him up with Brandon Miller, who won three Rookie of the Month awards this season, they can finally make it to the playoffs after 8 years apart.
LaMelo is convinced that the Hornets have a great roster but “we just need everybody to be available to play,” which has been one of their biggest troubles in the past campaigns.
