LaMelo Ball of the Charlotte Hornets looks on from the bench during the first quarter against the Atlanta Hawks at State Farm Arena on March 23, 2024, in Atlanta, Georgia. | Source: Kevin C. Cox / Getty
A collection of videos purporting to show NBA star LaMelo Ball driving recklessly, including blowing through multiple red lights, has gone viral in the wake of a lawsuit accusing the Charlotte Hornets star of driving over the foot of a young fan who simply wanted an autograph after a game.
The footage shows luxury vehicles allegedly driven by Ball, 22, leaving the Hornets’ home arena and promptly driving through a nearby red light on several occasions.
The lawsuit claims Ball was similarly leaving the Spectrum Center in Charlotte when the professional basketball player snubbed an autograph request from Angell McRae and drove over the then-11-year-old’s foot, breaking it in the process.
An 11-year-old was waiting outside the Spectrum Center after the Hornets’ Purple and Teal Day. He wanted an autograph from LaMelo Ball
His mom says Ball didn’t sign anything. He sped off in his car and drove over the 11-year-old’s foot, breaking it.
A lawsuit has been filed… pic.twitter.com/fsvnmQVRNV
— Joe Bruno (@JoeBrunoWSOC9) May 21, 2024
The lawsuit describes a similar scenario as shown in the videos that claim to show Ball driving recklessly after games as a throng of fans waits for an opportunity to catch a glimpse of their favorite players after a game.
Tamaria McRae, the mother of Angell, who is now 12, described to Action 9 News what she said happened that fateful night last October:
“[Angell] was like, ‘LaMelo, I love you. I love you, sign my … give me your autograph. Can you sign it for me?’ McRae told Action 9′s Jason Stoogenke.
She says Ball did not sign anything and drove off.
“I just seen my son kind of go down and I thought maybe he had dropped something,” she said.
But she says Angell had not dropped anything, that Ball had driven over his foot, breaking it.
“This is his hero, his idol, and he got run over by him,” their lawyer, Cameron DeBrun, said.
Action 9 News reported that “Angell’s family would have filed a claim with Ball’s insurance to pay his medical bills, but the police report is missing key information, like Ball’s insurer and even his name.”
DeBrun rejected claims that the lawsuit was a money grab and pointed to the length of time that elapsed between the alleged incident on Oct. 9 and the filing of the lawsuit this week as purported proof.
It was in that context that a social media content creator posted what they described as “a compilation of LaMelo leaving the Hornets arena while being an awful driver.”
The video opens with a gold Ferrari — the same kind of car that Ball has been reported to own — pulling out of the Spectrum Center and appearing to cut off another driver.
Harmless enough, right?
The very next clip shows a purple luxury SUV — which resembles the Rolls Royce Ball was he behind the wheel of in a video posted late last year — driving past fans outside of the Spectrum Center and promptly speeding through a red light.
The video, which claims Ball “definitely did it,” shows more of the same for two more instances. Watch below.
heres a compilation of LaMelo leaving the Hornets arena, someone needs to tell him to stop running red lights jfc… pic.twitter.com/sOHeRFCpgY
— IcyVert (@IcyVert) February 22, 2023
As of Wednesday morning, the video had more than 10 million views and had 31,000 likes.
The McRaes’ lawsuit is the latest legal claim Ball has had to face in the past two years.
In 2023, Ball and his family were sued for $200 million by a man named Alan Foster who “claims he helped build the family’s company and LaMelo Ball’s own branding company, MB1 Enterprises,” WCNC reported in November, a little more than a month after Ball allegedly ran over Angell McRae’s foot. “The lawsuit claims that Foster isn’t being paid fairly for his work and that LaMelo’s company is infringing on his intellectual property.
Ball, for his part, doesn’t seem fazed by the lawsuit, if his social media activity is any indication.
On Tuesday, the same day the McRaes’ lawsuit was reported, Ball took to his Instagram page to post an image promoting his sneakers with Puma, the athletic brand with which he has a lucrative endorsement deal.
“Designed to make an impact,” the post said without a hint of irony.
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