LaMelo Ball is headed for a civil trial in Charlotte, where the Hornets guard is accused of running over and breaking a young fan’s foot outside the Spectrum Center after a team scrimmage in October 2023. The family of the boy, who was 11 at the time, says he now lives with lasting pain and disability. Ball has flatly denied hitting the child and has spent months locked in discovery battles over what he has to turn over and what he has to say under oath.
In recent court hearings, a Mecklenburg County Superior Court judge ordered Ball to stop canceling his “legal interview” and to hand over prescription records and text messages from the hours around the alleged incident. Plaintiffs’ lawyers call that material crucial to their case. According to The Charlotte Observer, the court warned that if Ball fails to appear, he could be found in violation of a court order and face potential sanctions. Ball’s legal team has said some schedule changes were tied to medical issues and has pushed back on how broad the document requests should be.
The lawsuit, filed by Tamaria McRae on behalf of her son, Angell Joseph, claims the boy’s foot was run over outside the arena after the Hornets’ Purple and Teal Day scrimmage on Oct. 7, 2023. The complaint says Ball “failed to yield the right of way to a pedestrian” and that Angell then needed months of medical treatment, according to the Los Angeles Times. McRae has told local television the recovery was both physically painful and emotionally draining for her son.
Court filings from late last month show the family at one point demanded $3.75 million in damages. Those records also spell out Ball’s repeated denials that he ever drove over the child’s foot, as reported by The Charlotte Observer. Plaintiffs’ attorneys have asked the court to award fees tied to their efforts to force Ball’s deposition, arguing that delays around scheduling have been expensive. The stack of motions and pretrial briefs presents dueling versions of what the players’ exit and parking area looked like that night and how crowded it really was.
Hornets Dropped From Suit As Spotlight Stays On Ball
The Hornets were removed as defendants last year, leaving Ball as the sole focus of the civil case, according to local reporting from WSOC-TV. Even so, the complaint still raises questions about crowd control and security outside Spectrum Center, setting the stage for testimony about how the team and arena handled fans leaving the scrimmage. The Hornets have told the court they do not control public streets or the personal driving decisions of players once they leave the venue.
What The Discovery Orders Could Mean
Requiring prescription records and private messages falls squarely in the realm of civil discovery, where both sides get to dig for evidence, but judges have to weigh that against privacy rights and medical confidentiality. Under North Carolina procedure, courts can compel discovery and punish a party that willfully ignores those orders. Sanctions can include fines or limits on what evidence that party is allowed to present at trial under Rule 37 of the state rules. How the judge handles those orders, and how smoothly Ball’s deposition finally goes, could matter a lot if a jury is eventually seated.
The trial is currently set for the week of June 15, and court observers say a last-minute delay looks unlikely after the recent rulings on discovery. WCNC and other local outlets are expected to track new filings and hearing transcripts closely as the case moves toward opening statements. The next few weeks could produce the key testimony jurors will be asked to believe if and when the case gets to trial.
