If anyone can endear themselves to Hornets fans like LaMelo Ball did, it might just have to be a homegrown player.
In Goldsboro native Coby White, Hornets fans have that and more.
But White is clear about one thing: He is not the next LaMelo Ball. He is Coby White.
“I think I gotta do it my way,” White said. “I’m excited to see what that looks like for myself. I gotta do it the Coby White way.”
Monday’s media day gave players and head coach Charles Lee an opportunity to share how they are feeling heading into the 2026 NBA season. What hardly needed mentioning was the player missing from the room: LaMelo Ball, Charlotte’s former cornerstone. And while Lee and his players emphasized the team’s depth, NBA games are won and lost by star players — perhaps none more important than the point guard.
Charlotte Hornets guard Coby White on Monday, Sept. 28, 2026. JEFF SINER jsiner@charlotteobserver.com
White, who came to Charlotte in February from the Chicago Bulls and re-signed with the team weeks after Ball was traded, is now that guy. And he knows it.
“I know I’m in a different role than I was last year here,” he said.
But both he and his coach are believers.
“He has embraced every bit of the challenge that’s gonna come his way,” Lee said.
White also showed, in his few appearances as a Hornet, that he can have a serious impact. In 21 regular-season games, he averaged 15.6 points across 19.3 minutes per game.
That was enough for White to convince himself and Lee that he really can play the game his way.
Charlotte Hornets guard Coby White on Monday, Sept. 28, 2026. JEFF SINER jsiner@charlotteobserver.com
“He doesn’t need to play the point guard position like anybody else in the NBA, or anybody that was in that seat previously,” Lee said. “What he’s done throughout his career has already been really effective.”
Of course, to elevate the team the way Ball did, White will need to add other elements to his game. For Charlotte, White averaged just 3 rebounds and 3 assists, compared to Ball’s 4.8 rebounds and 7.1 assists.
Lee has a plan for that, too.
“We want to help him become an even more overall basketball player,“ he said. “I think offensively, he’s always shown that he can score. Now he’s gotta find that balance a little bit more of the scoring and the passing, playing off the ball at times, too.”
White, who said he’s always trying to develop, is ready to take on what he acknowledged is “a lot of responsibility and a lot on my shoulders.” He says it’s why he wanted to re-sign with Charlotte.
Charlotte Hornets guard Coby White on Monday, Sept. 28, 2026. JEFF SINER jsiner@charlotteobserver.com
“I knew that in order for me to become the player that I strive to be — that I dream of becoming — I have to take on this challenge,” he said. “And I think I’m ready for it at this point in my career, maturity-wise, mentally, physically, emotionally, spiritually.”
Spiritually, in part, because of where he now finds himself, back home in North Carolina, where he grew up, became the state’s all-time leading scorer in high school basketball history, and played one year of college ball at UNC.
“You can’t make this stuff up,” he said. “If you would have told me two years ago that this is where I’d be sitting at right here, I wouldn’t believe you.”
This story was originally published October 1, 2026 at 5:00 AM.