NBA star LaMelo Ball is being sued by a mother who claims he broke her 11-year-old son’s foot when he ran over him.
Angell Joseph, now 12 years old but 11 at the time, was trying to get Ball’s autograph after waiting outside the Charlotte Hornets’ stadium following an event in October.
‘(Angell) said, ‘LaMelo, I love you.’ I love you, sign my… give me your autograph. Can you sign it for me?’ his mother, Tamaria McRae, told Action 9.
But she claims Ball didn’t sign anything for the waiting fans and walked away from the stadium.
“I just saw my son fall and I thought maybe he dropped something,” she added.
NBA star LaMelo Ball is being sued by a mother who claims he broke her 11-year-old son’s foot.
But she says Angell was looking at her foot after Ball ran over it and broke it.
“This is his hero, his idol, and he was run over by him,” added his attorney, Cameron DeBrun.
McRae claimed the injury left his son suffering from “depression.”
He added: “For a while, I couldn’t even recognize who my son was because, like depression, I couldn’t go out and play.”
‘When you see your children hurt, it hurts you. It’s been hard. It has been very hard. I want to say that I am a strong person. This broke me. This right here, he really did it.’
DeBrun insists that the family would have filed a claim with Ball’s insurance to cover the costs of medical treatment, but his insurer and even his name were not listed in the police report for the incident.
Ball signed a rookie max contract extension last summer worth up to $260 million over five seasons.
The family is also suing the Hornets, insisting that the team should have had more safety precautions to protect fans while they tried to get autographs from players.
Ball, who is only 22 years old, signed a rookie max contract extension last summer that will pay him up to $260 million over the next five seasons.
When healthy, he was dynamite this season averaging 23.9 points, eight assists and 5.1 rebounds per game while shooting 36 percent from beyond the arc.
Ball, the 2022 All-Star point guard, has been limited to 58 games the past two seasons due to ankle issues and has not played for the Hornets since Jan. 26.
