Charlotte Hornets

Charlotte Hornets

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The Charlotte Hornets are reportedly receiving some much-needed reinforcements for Wednesday's game against the Detroit Pistons.

According to Shams Charania of The Athletic and Stadium's sources, point guard LaMelo Ball is "optimistic" he will be in the lineup.

The third-year playmaker has been sidelined by an ankle injury and last appeared in a game during Charlotte's loss to the Indiana Pacers on Nov. 16.

The Hornets have lost five in a row and are an ugly 7-20 on the season. They have been among the league's most disappointing teams after making the play-in tournament last season.

Only the 7-22 Pistons have a worse record, and they have been dealing with injury concerns to their young point guard. ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski reported Cade Cunningham will undergo season-ending surgery on his left shin.

Ball's absence is a major reason Charlotte is battling with those Pistons near the bottom of the standings.

He has appeared in just three games this season after averaging 20.1 points, 7.6 assists, 6.7 rebounds and 1.6 steals per game in 2021-22. The 2020-21 Rookie of the Year and 2021-22 All-Star also connected on 38.9 percent of his triples last season.

Ball is the franchise cornerstone at just 21 years old, and his long-term health is far more important than individual games in what is shaping up to be a lost season.

The team surely knows that and won't rush him back, but it seems as if he will return to the court after missing nearly one month.

Charlotte is 5.5 games behind the Miami Heat for the final spot in the Eastern Conference play-in tournament and will need to quickly turn things around if it is going to be anywhere near the factor it was last season.

Getting Ball back should help its cause, but contention may still be a long shot for the club.

The Charlotte Hornets announced that point guard LaMelo Ball suffered a left ankle sprain during the team's 125-113 home loss to the Indiana Pacers on Wednesday.

The injury occurred after Ball accidentally stepped on the foot of a fan seated courtside while attempting a steal.

The Pacers had the ball up 117-108 with 1:35 remaining in the game. Ball reached to to steal a pass and got a hand on the ball, which ricocheted out of bounds and away from the Hornets star's reach.

Ball skidded to the sideline on the attempt, and his left foot landed on the patron's left sneaker. He removed himself from the game and limped to the bench. Theo Maledon replaced him in the lineup.

The third-year pro previously suffered a Grade 2 left ankle sprain during an Oct. 10 preseason game against the Washington Wizards. He was sidelined until last Saturday when he made his season debut against the Miami Heat.

Ball had 15 points, six assists and six rebounds in 28 minutes and followed that up with 17 points, nine assists and four boards in 34 minutes against the Orlando Magic on Monday.

Prior to his injury, Ball dropped a season-high 26 points on 10-of-17 shooting alongside six assists in 37 minutes versus the Pacers.

The regular season has been nothing short of disastrous for the Hornets, who now sport a 4-12 record.

Terry Rozier (right ankle sprain) and Gordon Hayward (left shoulder contusion) have both missed extended time, with the latter player still out. Dennis Smith Jr. (left ankle sprain) is still out after starting for Ball for much of the year.

Without Ball, the offense has been stagnant and had ranked 28th in offensive efficiency entering Wednesday, per Basketball-Reference.

If Ball has to miss time and Smith remains out, then the starting backcourt could feature Rozier and Maledon for the time being, with James Bouknight a prime candidate to see more playing time.

The Hornets have the host Cleveland Cavaliers up next on Friday at 7:30 p.m. ET.

Charlotte Hornets restricted free agent Miles Bridges is reportedly facing three years of probation but no jail time after pleading no contest to a felony domestic violence charge Thursday, per ESPN's Baxter Holmes.

Holmes explained the no-contest plea and deal with prosecutors means the 24-year-old accepted the punishment he was given without formally admitting guilt.

He previously pleaded not guilty to the three felony charges that were filed against him by Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascon's office in July.

Bridges was arrested in June and released on $130,000 bail. He was accused of assaulting a woman who was his girlfriend at the time in front of their two children.

He faced a felony count of injuring a child's parent and two felony counts of child abuse under circumstances or conditions likely to cause great bodily injury or death.

"We are aware of the charges that were filed today against Miles Bridges," the Hornets said in a July statement. "These are very serious charges that we will continue to monitor. As this is a legal matter, we will have no further comment at this time."

According to Holmes, the woman approved Thursday's agreement that saw Bridges plead no contest to one count of domestic violence toward a spouse or cohabitant with the other two charges dismissed.

The agreement and three-year probation also require the following:

• 100 hours of community service
• Weekly narcotics tests
• No ownership of guns, dangerous weapons or ammunition
• 52 weeks of domestic violence counseling
• 52 weeks of parenting classes
• A 10-year protective order requiring him to remain 100 yards away from the woman
• A restitution fine of $300
• A domestic violence fine of $500

Since he and the woman still share custody of their two children, visitation and exchange must be completed through a neutral third party so there is no violation of the protective order in place.

Bridges has been in the NBA since the 2018-19 season and has only played for the Hornets.

Holmes noted the team extended a qualifying offer to the forward prior to his arrest and would have the opportunity to match an offer sheet he signs with another club. Yet the NBA also has the right to impose discipline should he sign with another team in an effort to return to the court.

Dennis Smith Jr. signed a one-year, $2.1 million deal with the Charlotte Hornets in September, but not before kicking around the idea of transitioning to football.

"I told my previous agent, 'I'm not going overseas. If s--t don't work out, I'm just going to the NFL,'" he told Stefan Bondy of the New York Daily News. "And I was dead-ass serious. I put on hella weight. I was gonna try."

Smith said he played football in high school and would have played collegiately if he wasn't one of the top basketball recruits in the nation. He planned to play as a defensive back in the NFL once he began considering a change in sports.

"I was going to get there, though, I swear to god I would," he said.

Smith, 24, has struggled to find a foothold in the NBA after the Dallas Mavericks selected him ninth overall in the 2017 draft. He's averaged 10.8 points and 4.3 assists per game in his six-year career but has bounced around the league, playing for the Mavs, New York Knicks, Detroit Pistons, Portland Trail Blazers and now the Hornets.

He has played well in Charlotte, however, posting 13.3 points and 4.7 assists in 25.7 minutes per game while shooting 56.7 percent from the field in three contests.

"Some guys figure it out late, some guys figure it out right away," Hornets head coach Steve Clifford told Bondy. "He's a talented guy. Even though with the injuries he's not the athlete he was, he's still a really good athlete, even for this league. I don't see that he's doing anything that he can't continue to do, frankly."

Getting quality minutes from Smith has been huge for the Hornets, with LaMelo Ball recovering from a sprained left ankle. He's more than earned himself a regular spot in the rotation, even when the 2-1 Hornets get healthier.

The NFL is officially on the back-burner, in other words.

Charlotte Hornets guard James Bouknight appeared to have a handgun in his lap when he was arrested for driving while intoxicated on Sunday.

In a photo of the arrest obtained by TMZ Sports, Bouknight is seen passed out in his car seemingly holding a Glock handgun in his lap before officers arrested him.

According to a Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police report obtained by Kallie Cox and Roderick Boone of the Charlotte Observer, the 22-year-old Bouknight was found in his vehicle around 1 a.m. local time on Sunday in a parking garage.

"Police radio communications, obtained from Broadcastify, indicate first responders from Medic, Charlotte Fire and CMPD attempted to rouse Bouknight and have him open the locked car," Cox and Boone wrote.

Officers found Bouknight was the owner of the car and had a pending concealed carry permit when they ran the tags and information on the vehicle.

Cox and Boone noted North Carolina has an open carry policy "in cases where the gun is considered legal and the person is not banned from having a firearm."

Bouknight was released from custody after posting a $2,500 bond. He hasn't been charged with any crime related to carrying a weapon.

The University of Connecticut alum has been cited for traffic violations three times within the past year, including speeding and reckless driving charges in November 2021 and February. He has court appearances scheduled throughout the rest of this year for those offenses.

"We are aware of the incident involving James Bouknight and are in the process of gathering additional information," the Hornets said in a statement released Monday. "We will have no further comment at this time."

Bouknight was the No. 11 overall pick in the 2021 NBA draft by the Hornets. He appeared in 31 games off the bench as a rookie.

Charlotte Hornets guard James Bouknight was arrested at 2 a.m. Sunday morning and charged with driving while impaired in Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, according to Kallie Cox and Roderick Boone of the Charlotte Observer.

The 22-year-old was given a $2,500 bond.

"We are aware of the incident involving James Bouknight and are in the process of gathering additional information," the Hornets said in a statement. "We will have no further comment at this time."

Bouknight already had multiple moving violations on his record, including two other pending charges in Mecklenburg County with court dates set for December.

He was cited for speeding and reckless driving last Wednesday after reportedly driving 92 miles per hour in a 50 mph zone. In February, he was ticketed for reckless driving. There was a third case but the charges were dismissed.

Last November, Bouknight was cited for driving 107 mph in a 65 mph zone in Cabarrus County, leading to charges of speeding and reckless driving. He is expected to appear in court later this month.

Bouknight also allegedly fled a car accident while he was at the University of Connecticut in 2019, with the police officer saying he smelled like alcohol at the time.

The 2021 No. 11 overall draft pick is heading into his second year with the Hornets after averaging 4.6 points in 31 games last season.

Charlotte Hornets forward Miles Bridges' future on the court remains uncertain after both sides allowed his $7.9 million qualifying offer to expire, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic and Stadium.

He will remain a restricted free agent as a result.

"They had a deadline on Saturday to see whether they would allow that qualifying to expire or look to extend it as late as March 1," Charania said during an appearance on The Rally. "So all this really does is take the qualifying offer of $7.9 million, which was always unlikely to get signed, off the table."

Bridges was arrested in June in Los Angeles on the eve of NBA free agency after he was accused of assaulting his girlfriend in front of their two children. The woman posted images of her injuries and a description of the attack on social media. He pleaded not guilty to three charges of felony domestic violence at his arraignment in July.

The case involving Bridges has been delayed four times, and he is now scheduled to appear in court for a preliminary hearing on Oct. 7. Per Michael Gordon and Roderick Boone of the Charlotte Observer, the hearing is to determine whether prosecutors have enough evidence to take Bridges to trial. If he is convicted of all three charges, he faces up to 12 years in prison.

Bridges is coming off his best season in the NBA, leading Charlotte with 20.2 points per game while also averaging 7.0 rebounds and 3.8 assists, all of which were career highs. He had turned down a contract extension offer from the Hornets prior to last season in hopes of landing a bigger deal this summer.

While Bridges is a promising young player, he is likely to face a significant suspension under the league's policy on domestic violence, sexual assault and child abuse even if he is not convicted, so it wouldn't be a surprise if he remains a restricted free agent for quite some time.

If another team decides to extend an offer to Bridges, the Hornets will have to decide whether or not to match it. After letting his qualifying offer expire, Charlotte may be prepared to let him walk.