LaMelo Ball Goes Viral for Punching Hornets Mascot in Wild Postgame Moment
The Charlotte Hornets had a chaotic win over the Miami Heat in the first of the NBA play-in games, as LaMelo Ball had several highlight moments, including an attention-grabbing moment where he appeared to strike Hugo, his team’s mascot.
Aside from his game-winning layup with 4.7 seconds left, Ball caught attention early in the second quarter for what many felt was a dirty play on Bam Adebayo. As Adebayo grabbed a loose ball, he was balancing on one leg near the out-of-bounds line.
Ball fell on his back on the court and grabbed Adebayo’s leg. Based on replay footage, he appeared to yank at the Heat star’s leg, causing him to fall on his back on the court.
That play didn’t result in any fouls against the Hornets star, but it caused Adebayo to exit the game with a lower-back injury. And unfortunately for Miami, their star player did not return.
Read more:Hornets' LaMelo Ball Receives Strong Criticism for Bam Adebayo Injury
With Adebayo out for the remainder of the game, the Heat and Hornets battled back and forth. Miami seemed on their way to a three-point win in regulation, but Coby White nailed a corner three-point shot to tie things up and send it to overtime.
In the extra session, Ball became a hero when his driving layup went in to give the Hornets the one-point lead. On the opposite end of the court, Miles Bridges came up with a huge block on a Heat layup attempt to seal the win at the buzzer.
However, the postgame celebration brought another wild highlight featuring Ball. In a video clip that began circulating on social media, he first celebrates with teammates, including rookie Liam McNeely.
Hugo, the Hornets’ mascot, comes over to slap hands with Ball. They do, but then Ball appears to punch the mascot’s head and shove it away. Several seconds later, Hugo adjusts his costume slightly and walks away casually.
As of this writing, a clip of the postgame moment had racked up over 27,000 likes and 163 comments from fans and critics reacting to what happened after the game.
“Kid will never win, too immature, will probably have a career similar to Jason Williams 2 all stars at most, and a few highlights reels,” a commenter wrote.
“Lamelo just bullying everyone today,” and “He get Bam and Hugo in the same day,” commenters wrote.
Others commented, “damn near killed the mascot,” and “Hugo lucky he didn't dap up miles bridges.”
“i think i’m convinced he grabbed bam’s leg on purpose after seeing this,” someone replied on another X video clip of the moment.
Some suggested Ball was aggressively hugging the mascot before pushing it away in celebration. Others felt the NBA should punish the Hornets star for punching Hugo.
“Could be a fine coming though once the league gets a hold of this tape,” the original poster replied to one commenter.
In January, Los Angeles Lakers center Jaxson Hayes had a pregame incident in which he aggressively shoved the Washington Wizards’ mascot, later claiming the mascot had stepped on his foot. Neither Hayes nor the mascot was injured, and the Lakers center was suspended for one game by the NBA for shoving the mascot.
It’s unclear if that postgame moment will receive anything from the NBA, although the fact that it’s gone viral, along with Ball’s in-game swipe on Bam Adebayo, is certainly going to give the league something to consider.
Along with potential punishment for Ball over the Adebayo incident, his team has to win another play-in game to make the NBA’s Eastern Conference Playoffs. They’ll face the loser of the Philadelphia 76ers and Orlando Magic play-in game, which occurs on Wednesday evening.
Read more:Heat's Erik Spoelstra Blasts ‘Dangerous' Hornets Play on Bam Adebayo
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This story was originally published April 15, 2026 at 10:35 AM.