When the Charlotte Hornets tipped of their Monday afternoon contest against the Dallas Mavericks, the NBA world was treated to a first-class point guard duel between LaMelo Ball and Kyrie Irving. The matchup lived up to its pregame buzz.

Kyrie Irving shared his thoughts on LaMelo Ball's game following the Mavericks' defeat against the Hornets on Monday.

Dallas Mavericks point guard showered LaMelo Ball with praise after the Charlotte Hornets beat the Mavericks 110-105.

LaMelo Ball's Charlotte Hornets dispatched Kyrie Irving's Dallas Mavericks 110-105 during Monday's home matchup. Following Ball and Co.

Kyrie Irving on LaMelo Ball: “He's got good pedigree… He comes from a family that has pros... I wanna see that young guy reach his potential even more so and answer a lot of the doubters and ...

In a recent game where the Charlotte Hornets triumphed over the Dallas Mavericks, Kyrie Irving praised LaMelo Ball's growth and resilience on the cour

LaMelo Ball and Miles Bridges each scored 23 points and the Charlotte Hornets held on to beat the Dallas Mavericks 110-105.

There will be at least 15 players who "start" at the All-Star Game this season. It's the first year of a new All-Star format, with three games. The 24 All-Stars will be drafted into three teams of eight players apiece by TNT personalities and former NBA greats Shaquille O'Neal, Charles Barkley and Kenny Smith.

The San Antonio star and reigning rookie of the year is an All-Star for the first time, one of the 14 players announced Thursday night as members of the reserve pool for the Feb. 16 event in San Francisco.

Coaches selected the reserves after the 10 names for the starters pool were announced last week through a combination of fan voting (50%), media voting (25%) and active player voting (25%).

The league is as rich with talent as it has ever been. Someone was bound to get snubbed. But one stands out above the rest.