Charlotte Hornets guard LaMelo Ball is the recipient of the 2020-21Kia NBA Rookie of the year award. He became the third player in Hornets history to win this award after Larry Johnson in 1992 and Emeka Okafor in 2005.

Ball received 84 first-place votes which brought him 465 total points from a global panel of 99 sportswriters and broadcasters. Anthony Edwards of the Minnesota Timberwolves received the remaining 15 first-place votes and finished second with 309 points. Sacramento Kings guard Tyrese Haliburton ended up third with 114 total points. Players were awarded five points for each first-place vote, three for each second-place vote, and one point for each third-place vote.

Ball, who was selected as the third overall pick in the 2020 NBA draft, had a decent season with the Hornets, which was marked by his hand injury which forced him to miss 20 games. He played the fourth-fewest games among Rookie of the year award winners. Only Patrick Ewing, Vince Carter, and Kyrie Irving have played fewer games in their rookie seasons than Ball and still won the award.

Ball had ups and downs during the season, occasionally being benched but still find his way into the Hornets lineup where he had to fight for playing time with Terry Rozier, Devonte’ Graham, and Malik Monk. He averaged 15.7 points, 6.1 assists, 5.9 rebounds, and 1.6 steals in 28.8 minutes per game shooting 43.6% from the field and 35.2% from the three-point line. Jimmy Butler of the Miami Heat was the only other player in the league to average more than 15 points, 6 assists, 5 rebounds, and 1.5 steals per game this season.

In January against the Atlanta Hawks, he recorded 22 points, 12 rebounds, and 11 assists becoming the youngest player in NBA history to have a triple-double with 19 years and 140 days. A couple of weeks later against the Utah Jazz he scored a career-high 34 points.

Ball was selected as the Kia Eastern Conference rookie of the month in each of the first three months of the season, pleading his case for the Rookie of the year from the start of the season.

Anyway, many NBA analysts think that Anthony Edwards would have been the right choice for the award since the Timberwolves guard played all 72 games this season averaging 19.3 points, 4.7 rebounds, and 2.9 assists in 32.1 minutes per game. Unlike Ball, Edwards had a slower start of the season but his improvement was obvious and he ended up as the third-leading scorer of the Timberwolves behind Karl-Anthony Towns and Malik Beasley.

Both Ball and Edwards received 198 votes in the selection of the 2020-21 NBA All-Rookie first team. The other three players among the best five rookies are Tyrese Haliburton, Detroit Pistons forward Saddiq Bay, and Houston Rockets forward Jae’Sean Tate.

The players selected in the 2020-21 NBA All-Rookie second team are Desmond Bane of the Memphis Grizzlies, Isaac Okoro of the Cleveland Cavaliers, Immanuel Quickley of the New York Knicks, Isaiah Stewart of the Detroit Pistons, and Patrick Williams of the Chicago Bulls.