A woman has filed a lawsuit against Charlotte Hornets star LaMelo Ball and the team after he allegedly drove over and broke her 11-year-old son’s foot, according to a report from WSOC-TV in Charlotte.
The incident occurred on Oct. 7, 2023 at the Hornets’ “Purple and Teal Day” prior to the start of the regular season. Tamaria McRae was in attendance at the Spectrum Center along with her son, Angell Joseph.
McRae claims that she and her son were outside after the event when Joseph and a few other kids spotted Ball leaving in his car. He approached the point guard in attempt to get an autograph, but Ball drove off and ran over Joseph’s foot without signing anything.
“I just seen my son kind of go down and I thought maybe he had dropped something,” McRae said.
The lawsuit states that Ball “looked directly in the minor Plaintiff’s face” before driving away “in a grossly negligent and reckless manner in that he accelerated his vehicle forward suddenly and without warning.”
McRae told WSOC-TV that her son spent months recovering, not only physically but emotionally as well. The suit continues, claiming that Joseph considered Ball to be his “hero” and that “being struck by a car driven by his hero” caused him severe emotional distress.
“For a while, I couldn’t even recognize who my child was because, like depression, not being able to go outside and play,” she said. “When you see your children hurt, it hurts you. It’s been rough. It’s been real rough. I mean like I’m a strong person. This broke me. This right here, it really did.”
In addition to LaMelo Ball, the Hornets are also listed as a defendant in the lawsuit. It alleged that the team “failed to provide adequate security and pedestrian control measures in the Spectrum Center employee exit,” which is where the incident occurred.
The lawsuit seeks damages in excess of $25,000 for all of the reasons above.
Ball, the Rookie of the Year in the 2020-21 season, just wrapped up his fourth year in the NBA. He appeared in only 22 games as he battled injuries this past season, averaging 23.9 points, 8.0 assists and 5.1 rebounds per game.
The 22-year-old Ball has appeared in only 58 games total over the past two seasons after the strong start to his career. Now he’s got some off-court troubles to attend to as he is set to see his salary increase to $35.5 million in 2024-25.
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