LaMelo Ball is one of the most creative players in the NBA. He proved it again with one of the craziest passes of the year — a rocket off the glass to himself, setting up a chain reaction of further passes for a fouled dunk attempt.
LaMelo off glass to himself for the pass 🔥 pic.twitter.com/b0QU4buzvS
— NBA on ESPN (@ESPNNBA) January 8, 2025
To most NBA players, even considering a play like that is out of the realm of possibility. To Ball, it’s not that special. When asked to explain his thought process behind the maneuver, he simply stated, “I just play basketball.”
That move has been tried before — Tyrese Haliburton did it last year and Kobe Bryant did the same 13 years ago. But it’s yet another example of the Hornets star doing things we have rarely seen on a basketball court.
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LaMelo Ball is the NBA’s most creative star
Plenty of players have thrown a pass off the backboard to themselves to set up a layup or dunk. Ball used that technique almost exactly a year ago against the Pelicans, throwing it off the glass for an alley-oop to himself. That didn’t get a lot of national attention, but the players around the league did notice. Ball’s play set up a slew of copycats over the next few weeks, including Victor Wembanyama, Joel Embiid and Anthony Edwards.
That move dates back to Vince Carter and Tracy McGrady in All-Star games. Fewer players have tried to use the backboard to set up a pass. And Ball might be the only one to try a between-the-legs, off-the-backboard pass for an alley-oop to a teammate in a real game.
Ball tried to take the concept of the off-the-backboard pass even further earlier this season.
Against the Hawks, Ball threw the ball off the hip of teammate Nick Richards, who had no idea what had just happened. Richards wasn’t the only one. Ball was called for a traveling violation when trying to restart his dribble after the maneuver.
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That was the wrong call. Via the NBA’s official rulebook, “a player may not be the first to touch his own pass unless the ball touches his backboard, basket ring or another player.” Throwing it off a teammate should legally restart your dribble, once the referees learn that there’s a player in the league crazy enough to do it.
Other times, Ball’s self-pass fails can be only blamed on himself. Three years ago, he tried bouncing the ball for an alley-oop on an uncontested fast break. He missed that dunk and made things even worse by committing a frustration foul off the ensuing rebound.
There might not be another player who would attempt that type of play during a two-point game, but Ball has been redefining basketball norms since his high school days at Chino Hills, where he used to pull up for 3s at halfcourt.
A few gaffes here and there is ultimately the price that you pay for genius. His innovative plays don’t always work out, but when they do, they’re electric.
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