LaMelo Ball Doesn't Seem Very Nervous About His First On-Court Meeting With LeBron James

The Charlotte Hornets - Los Angeles Lakers game on Thursday will be the first time that LaMelo Ball meets his brother Lonzo's former teammate, LeBron James, on the court. Is Melo worried? Not particularly. While the youngest Ball says it will be cool to play LeBron, he tries to approach every game with the same mindset. Mainly, just trying to win. However, he also added a couple quotables. Via ESPN:

""I grew up a little different. Not really on basketball like that. So, not really.""

Even more amusing is the fact that while Lonzo apparently modeled his game after LeBron's, LaMelo had a basketball idol closer to home.

""It was my pops," Ball said when asked if he had a role model the way his brother looked up to James. "So, I was big on family and stuff like that. Not really with the basketball.""

Great stuff from LaMelo Ball right there. Nothing inflammatory, but still enough to get a little reaction. You can just hear a little bit of that LaVar Ball influence that we've so missed over the last year. And hey, if any rookie gets to say something like that, it's the probable Rookie of the Year whose father is convinced he could beat his boss in a game of one-on-one.

We could learn a lot about Ball and the Charlotte Hornets over the next week. Starting tonight they go on a five-game West Coast road trip that includes games against the Denver Nuggets, Los Angeles Clippers, San Antonio Spurs and the aforementioned Lakers. That's quite a week.