Overview
- Short clips from Ball’s Ball in the Family podcast circulated on social media on Wednesday, Sept. 23 and were widely taken as a retirement announcement.
- Hours after the clips spread, Ball posted on X that he had not retired and wrote he’s “still waiting for a call,” signaling he wants another NBA chance.
- Ball’s career was heavily affected by a January 2022 left-knee meniscus tear and a 2023 cartilage/meniscus transplant that cost him the 2022–23 and 2023–24 seasons.
- He is an unrestricted free agent after being traded to Utah and waived in February 2026 and averaged roughly 4.6 points in 35 games for Cleveland in 2025–26.
- The episode highlights how short social-media clips and aggregator posts can create misleading headlines and that Ball declined a recent overseas offer as he weighs NBA options.