LaMelo Ball has won the 2020-2021 NBA Rookie of The Year award. The race essentially came down to two players: Ball and Timberwolves Rookie Anthony Edwards (though Sacramento’s Tyrese Haliburton made a valiant attempt to include himself in the race).
While Ball missed 21 games, he was still able to secure the award after having a strong season overall. Ball averaged 15.7 points per game, 5.9 rebounds, and 6.1 assists per game—good figures for any rookie.
Ball is poised to become a top-tier point guard in the NBA (if he is not there already).
There were some doubters of Ball coming into his rookie season. While unpopular opinion, there was a solid argument on why he should have been the No. 1 pick in the 2020 draft, as I detailed on ParksSportsandRecreation.com last November.
Ball is well-deserving of this Rookie Of The Year award. He is on a team full of good, young players and they’ll surely use the award as motivation to become a great team. They already have the highlight portion locked down largely due to the way Ball masterfully plays the point guard position.
It will be great to continue to watch Ball’s growth. Again, congratulations go out to him.