Hornets’ LaMelo Ball not named All-Star starter. Was Charlotte’s face of franchise snubbed?

If LaMelo Ball is in the NBA’s All-Star game in San Francisco in February, it won’t be as a starter.

Despite garnering the most fan votes among players in the Eastern Conference, the Charlotte Hornets point guard didn’t receive enough of the overall vote. Instead, New York’s Jalen Brunson and Cleveland’s Donovan Mitchell will start for the conference in the league’s annual showcase.

Along with the fans, a media panel and current NBA players had a hand in choosing the 10 starters. Each player’s score was calculated through averaging the weighted rank from fan votes, player votes and media votes.

Reserves, picked by coaches, will be announced next Thursday. So there’s still a possibility the Hornets guard could be among those selected. On TNT’s broadcast announcing the starters, Kenny Smith, Charles Barkley, Shaquille O’Neal and Ernie Johnson each had Ball on their respective lists as a reserve.

Should Ball get the nod next week, it would mark the second time he has made it as a reserve. In 2022, he became the fourth-youngest player in league history at 20 years, 182 days to earn the honor, trailing only Kobe Bryant, LeBron James and Magic Johnson.

Ball’s play this season has turned heads, reminding people just how good he can be when he’s not on the injured list. He’s averaging career bests in points (29.6) — which also ranks fourth in the league — field goals (10.3), 3-pointers (4.4) and free throws (4.5).

On top of distributing 7.5 assists and collecting 5.5 rebounds and 1.4 steals, Ball is sinking an NBA-best 4.4 3-pointers per game and leads the NBA in fourth-quarter points per game (9.2).

Defensively, he’s stepped it up as well and is earning praise from his coach.

“His two-way play has really helped us,” coach Charles Lee said after Monday’s win over Dallas. “We’ve made an effort to play with more pace offensively. I think the whole squad has really bought into that and he’s really the head of the snake when it comes to pace, and his attack and willingness to either go finish in the attack or collapse the defense and kick out for some early opportunities.

“And then defensively he’s denying (Kyrie) Irving at the end of the game, being more physical. I feel like in our transit defense, we are having a lot more communication and urgency to get back. So, just really impressed with his two-way game and not trying to be offensively focused.”