Hornets must start winning to keep LaMelo Ball, says Steve Clifford

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Charlotte Hornets coach Steve Clifford said it’s critical for the team to start winning if it intends to keep star point guard LaMelo Ball, who is considered a cornerstone of the franchise.

Ball, the No. 3 overall draft pick in 2020, never has been in a playoff game. Charlotte hasn’t been to the postseason in seven years, the longest active streak in the NBA.

“He badly wants to win,” Clifford said. “… When you’re at his level, there are certain expectations. You’re going to be compared to the other point guards his age that have had not incredible playoff success but have had some.

“It’s important to his career.”

Clifford said Ball takes losing harder than most players he has been around, and Ball occasionally has texted him after midnight following a bad game to say: “Hey, my bad. I’m sorry, I should have done better.”

When asked Monday about his long-term future in Charlotte, Ball said he “plays it by the day.”

“I love it here,” said Ball, who is from California. “I can’t really tell the future. We’ll just see how it goes and go from there.”

As for Clifford’s comments about it being critical for the Hornets to start winning to keep him here, Ball replied: “For sure. The main thing is winning. Life if better when you win.”

General manager Mitch Kupchak has some flexibility to add pieces this offseason.

Charlotte has five draft picks, including two in the first round.

The Hornets have a fighting chance to move up and get either Victor Wembanyama or Scoot Henderson — considered the top two picks in this year’s draft — if they get lucky in next month’s draft lottery.

They also have a projected $39 million in salary cap space entering free agency, according to Spotrac.

The Hornets could use that money to re-sign restricted free agent Miles Bridges, who sat out this season after being arrested on domestic violence charges last summer. He later pleaded no contest to one felony count of injuring a child’s parent in exchange for three years of probation and no jail time.

BALL’S HEALTH

As for Ball, his first order of business is getting healthy.

The 2022 All-Star missed 46 games because of ankle issues, including a fracture in late February that required season-ending surgery. He remains in a walking boot. Barring a setback, Ball is expected to be 100% for the next preseason, Clifford said.

JORDAN’S FUTURE

Clifford, who agreed to return to coach the Hornets last summer after Kenny Atkinson backed out of the job, would love an opportunity to turn things around following an unusually injury-plagued 2022-23 season.

But that might depend on whether Michael Jordan sells the team.

Jordan’s family office announced last month that the six-time NBA champion is in negotiations to sell an additional stake in the franchise to George Plotkin, one of the team’s…