Entering NBA action on Friday night, the Minnesota Timberwolves had a 9-3 record led by point guard LaMelo Ball in his first year with the franchise.
However, veteran NBA analyst Ric Bucher, who worked at ESPN for 14 years until leaving for Fox Sports in 2012, is still not impressed with Ball’s start to the season.
Continuing his opinion that dated back to Ball’s time with the Charlotte Hornets, Bucher recently opined on an episode of his “On The Ball” podcast that the Timberwolves guard is not a player he believes can be a primary contributor on a team that wins the NBA Finals.
Ball has had to take on more of a scoring load in the absence of All-Star backcourt mate Anthony Edwards, who only appeared in four games before being sidelined due to a knee surgery.
“LaMelo is not a threat to lead the Timberwolves to the playoffs any more than he was a threat to lead the Hornets to the postseason,” Bucher said on Nov. 5, a day after Ball scored 20 points in a win over a Houston Rockets team that had won seven of their first eight games.
“An erratic point guard, which he is,” Bucher added about Ball, “no matter how talented, which he is, is going to lose you as many games as he wins you. … He is as inconsistent as he’s ever been, and there appears to be no rhyme or reason to his game, no more than it did in Charlotte.”
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Bucher continued his comments by criticizing Ball for committing seven turnovers and several fourth-quarter fouls in the win against Houston, but a comment the analyst made about Ball’s appearance is what led to some online calling him a racist.
“I get why LaMelo has diehard fans,” Bucher said. “He’s a whole circus, wrapped up in one heavily-tatted body.
“I find myself half-laughing at some of the shots he makes and his mad-hatter drives into the paint. But that AAU-style of basketball does not work in a consistent basis in the NBA.”
In another podcast episode released Thursday, Bucher responded to those who felt his takes on Ball’s game had a racist connotation. The analyst was unapologetic.
“LaMelo’s fans disparaged me, suggesting I was dumb and don’t understand basketball,” Bucher said. “And that my perspective of LaMelo is rooted in the fact that he is young and Black and I am old and white. Now think about that as the basis for suggesting that anyone is wrong … because of their age and skin color.”
“To see your feed flooded with people calling you a racist is not particularly enjoyable,” Bucher added, “but thinking about the rationale for saying I actually am [a racist] makes me laugh because it’s so stupid.”
Since Edwards exited the Timberwolves starting lineup, the team has gone 6-2. In all six victories, Ball has scored at least 20 points, including a season-high 34 in a win over the Milwaukee Bucks on Nov. 2.
During his first six NBA seasons in Charlotte, Ball never made it to the playoffs. That should change this year, barring any further major injuries to the Timberwolves roster — Edwards is also expected to return from his rehab in late December or January.
If Minnesota does indeed make it to the postseason, we will see who gets the last laugh between Bucher, Ball, and the point guard’s loyal fanbase.
