A Charlotte mother is suing LaMelo Ball and the Hornets on behalf of her child, alleging the NBA guard hit her son with his car while exiting the Spectrum Center after a fan event in early October 2023, according to a lawsuit filed Tuesday in the Mecklenburg (N.C.) County Superior Court. Tamaria McRae is also suing the Hornets for negligence, per the lawsuit.
Ball, who was participating in an event called “Purple and Teal Day at the Hive,” allegedly exited the arena in his car at the employee entrance. Fans, including McRae and her son Angell Joseph, who was then 11, waited at the employee entrance to get autographs from players as they left the arena in their vehicles.
According to the lawsuit, Joseph approached Ball’s vehicle as it was stopped at a traffic light outside the employee’s entrance. When the light turned green, Ball allegedly “accelerated his vehicle forward suddenly” and struck Joseph before leaving the scene. Joseph, according to the lawsuit, sustained “severe and painful injuries.” According to multiple reports, Joseph sustained a broken foot in the alleged incident.
The lawsuit alleges Ball was negligent by operating a vehicle “without maintaining proper control of it” failing to “yield the right of way to a pedestrian” and “to apply his brakes in time to avoid an incident with a pedestrian.”
The lawsuit alleges the Hornets failed to “provide adequate security and pedestrian control measures in the Spectrum Center employee exit.” The Hornets allegedly didn’t “properly train employees” nor “establish safe protocols” to protect pedestrians as players left Spectrum Center, per the lawsuit.
The family is asking for a sum of over $25,000 in compensatory damages from both Ball and the Hornets.
The Hornets declined to comment. Ball’s agent also declined to comment.
Ball, 22, was the third pick in the 2020 NBA Draft. An All-Star in 2022, Ball averaged 23.9 points, 5.1 rebounds and 8.0 assists per game on 43.3 percent shooting from the floor during the 2023-24 season.
(Photo: Jacob Kupferman / Getty Images)
