Just when fans thought things couldn’t get any worse for the Charlotte Hornets, they found out the team will be without LaMelo Ball for the NBA Cup matchup against the New York Knicks. The star will miss his first game of the 2024/25 season due to pain in his left calf.

As such, the Hornets are down eight men, including five of this season’s top six scorers.

Charlotte probably wants its best player to be on the floor as much as possible. After all, he represents the team’s best chance to win on any given night. Unfortunately, it appears he suffered the injury late in the Hornets’ loss to the Miami Heat on Wednesday.

Mark Williams, Nick Richards, Miles Bridges, Grant Williams and Tre Mann are among those still sidelined, and it doesn’t look like any of them will be back anytime soon, especially Grant Williams, who is out for the season.

Missing a lot of bodies has led to the coaching staff relying a lot on Ball. The good news is that the 2022 All-Star has risen to the challenge. He ranks second in the league in points (31.1) and three-pointers (4.7) averages while dishing out 6.9 assists per game.

Without a reliable shot maker outside of Ball and Brandon Miller, the coaching staff has had to play the youngster 38.8 minutes per game over the past three games. He is at an age where he can still handle such a significant workload. However, we must not forget that he has had two injury-plagued campaigns, in which he sat out 106 of a possible 164 games.

Additionally, this isn’t the first time the 2021 Rookie of the Year has been included on the Hornets’ injury report. So he has had to deal with ailments all season. A little rest should allow him to recover and get his body back in order.

The timing couldn’t be better as Ball could avoid a physical fight against the Knicks. Not that he cannot deal with it, but as mentioned, his health may not yet be optimal. And besides, Charlotte is all but eliminated from the regular-season tournament, so it’s not like the team has anything big to play for on Friday.

Some may wonder how the Hornets will cope without their floor general. His teammates, especially Miller, Vasilije Micic and probably KJ Simpson, will have no choice but to act as ball handler and distributor. If they can’t, that should be a further wake-up call for the front office to address their playmaking issues.