Fact Check: Did LaMelo Ball REALLY Get a Tattoo of Hawk Tuah Girl? Exploring Viral Pic

Lamelo Ball is out of action from the basketball court for few months but he is making headlines for a tattoo he got inked. Let's get to know more.

Updated on Sep 06, 2024  |  01:20 PM IST |  1.9M
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LaMelo Ball

Lamelo Ball has not played since January 27 for the Hornets, who were eliminated from the postseason competition. However, the star player is in the news for a tattoo of ‘Hawk Tuah Girl’ on his face before the start of the new season. But is the viral image real?

The news was posted by an account on X named NBACentel. The account is famous for making fun of the players and framing impressions among fans because of the same. There is not a single other picture where Lamelo Ball is seen with the tattoo. Hence the ‘Hawk Tuah Girl’ tattoo is fake.


With the longest playoff drought in the NBA, Charlotte has missed the playoffs eight times in a row. The 22-year-old Ball, who, in July, agreed to a five-year max contract extension, has only appeared in 58 games over the last two seasons due to recurrent ankle injuries that he has had since entering the league.

Prior to getting injured, Ball was having a great season, averaging a career-high 23.9 points per game. Lamelo Ball was an All-Star the next season after winning NBA Rookie of the Year in 2021. In the 2020 NBA Draft, the Hornets chose him with the third overall pick.

Ball started high school at Chino Hills High School in Chino Hills, California, where, as a freshman, he and his older brothers Lonzo and LiAngelo won a state championship and experienced national success.

A coaching disagreement led him to sign with the Lithuanian professional team Prienai prior to his junior season, having previously left Chino Hills. He participated in the Junior Basketball Association (JBA), a league his father founded, in 2018 before going back to Geneva, Ohio, to finish his senior year of high school at SPIRE Academy.

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Lamelo Ball was a five-star recruit, who had committed to UCLA, but due to eligibility issues, he decided to play professional basketball in Australia in 2019 with the Illawarra Hawks of the National Basketball League (NBL). He soared to great heights there. Scouts had previously made fun of Ball for being a possible second-round pick and future NBA player.

In a 117-106 victory over the Detroit Pistons on February 27, Ball sustained a non-contact right ankle injury. The Hornets declared following the game that he was sidelined indefinitely due to an ankle fracture. 

Ball had surgery on March 1 to treat his injury, and the procedure was successful. As a result, Ball missed the remainder of the season.

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