CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Charlotte Hornets coach Charles Lee sheepishly walked into the press room after his team's 102-95 victory over the New Orleans Pelicans and immediately threw himself under the proverbial bus.
“Stupid ... coach,” said an embarrassed Lee, shaking his head before sitting down to take questions from reporters.
Lee and LaMelo Ball were involved in a head-to-head collision in the first quarter near the Charlotte bench, briefly sending the star point guard to the locker room to be checked out by trainers. Ball returned after having a 1-inch laceration above his eye glued shut by trainers and scored 26 points and grabbed eight rebounds to lead Charlotte to its seventh straight win.
The bizarre incident occurred when Ball was attempting to save an errant pass from Miles Bridges near the Hornets bench. Lee, who was pacing the sideline at the time, never saw Ball coming and instinctively bent over to retrieve the ball.
As Lee lowered his head to retrieve the ball, Ball came racing into into him, sending the second-year coach into the scorer's table.
Ball wound up on the floor for several minutes and both men grabbed their heads. When Ball got up, he grabbed a towel and put it over his right eye as he was escorted to the locker room.
He returned to the bench a few minutes later.
“I took a play off and you're not supposed to take any plays off,” Lee said, taking full blame for the collision. “I thought the ball was going out of bounds and I was going to save it from going into the stands and he was going to save the ball. We went head to head. Credit to him he didn't yell at me too bad."
Ball laughed off the collision while speaking to The Associated Press in the locker room after the game.
“He went for the ball and I went for the ball and obviously we bumped heads,” Ball said. “It was unfortunate, but hey, I’m still alive and breathing, so who cares? We got the win, so that’s what most important.”
Lee, who never left the sideline and continued to coach, said he loved how Ball was quick to return to the game.
“I love his spirit of, ‘hey let me get to the back, get cleaned up and get back out there,’” Lee said. “It just shows the growth that he continues to have to take a bump or a bruise like that and shake it off. He really helped our team.”
Ball turned in one of his better games this season, scoring 18 points in the first half to keep the game from getting out of hand after the Hornets fell behind by 22 points.
In the second half, Ball made several big shots including a rare two-handed dunk after blowing by a defender in traffic. He added five assists and finished with just two turnovers.
“It was a great job by him of responding to a foolish coach,” Lee said.
AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/NBA
Charlotte Hornets head coach Charles Lee directs his team during the second half of an NBA basketball game against the New Orleans Pelicans in Charlotte, N.C., Monday, Feb. 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Nell Redmond)
Charlotte Hornets guard LaMelo Ball holds his head after colliding with head coach Charles Lee during the first half of an NBA basketball game against the New Orleans Pelicans, in Charlotte, N.C., Monday, Feb. 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Nell Redmond)
Charlotte Hornets guard LaMelo Ball holds his head after colliding with head coach Charles Lee during the first half of an NBA basketball game against the New Orleans Pelicans, in Charlotte, N.C., Monday, Feb. 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Nell Redmond)
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump implored the House on Monday to end the partial government shutdown, but neither Republicans nor Democrats appeared ready to quickly approve the federal funding package he brokered with the Senate without first debating their own demands over immigration enforcement operations.
Democrats are refusing to provide the votes House Speaker Mike Johnson needs to push the package forward as they try to rein in the Trump administration's deportation operations after the shooting deaths of two Americans in Minneapolis. That's forcing Johnson to rely on his slim GOP majority, which has its own complaints about the package, to fall in line behind Trump's deal with Senate Democrats.
Voting could begin as soon as Tuesday, which would be day four of the partial shutdown. The Pentagon, Homeland Security and other agencies saw their funding lapse Saturday. And while many operations at those departments are deemed essential, and still functioning, some workers may go without pay or be furloughed.
“We need to get the Government open, and I hope all Republicans and Democrats will join me in supporting this Bill, and send it to my desk WITHOUT DELAY,” the president wrote on social media.
“There can be NO CHANGES at this time," Trump insisted. "We will work together in good faith to address the issues that have been raised, but we cannot have another long, pointless, and destructive Shutdown.”
The stalemate points to a difficult week ahead as Johnson relies on Trump to help muscle to package to passage.
The president struck a deal last week with Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer in which Homeland Security would only be funded temporarily, though Feb. 13, as Congress debates changes to immigration enforcement operations. The Senate overwhelmingly approved the package with the rest of the government funding ahead of Saturday's deadline.
House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries made it clear Monday that his side sees no reason to help Johnson push the bill forward in a procedural step, something that the majority party typically handles on its own.
With Johnson facing a revolt from his own Republican ranks, Jeffries is seizing the leverage it provides Democrats to demand changes to immigration operations.
“On rare occasions have we stepped in to deal with Republican dysfunction,” Jeffries said at the Capitol.
Democrats are demanding restraints on Immigration and Customs Enforcement that go beyond $20 million for body cameras that already is in the bill. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem announced Monday that officers on the ground in Minneapolis, including ICE, will be immediately issued body-worn cameras, and the program would be expanded nationwide as funding is available.
But Democrats are pressing for more. They want to require that federal immigration agents unmask — noting that few, if any, other law enforcement agencies routinely mask themselves in the U.S. — and they want officers to rely on judicial, rather than administrative, warrants in their operations.
They also want an end to roving patrols, amid other changes.
Jeffries said the administration needs to begin negotiations now, not over the next two weeks, on changes to immigration enforcement operations.
Certain Democrats, however, are splintering with the leader, and pushing for quicker passage of the funding package to avoid government disruptions.
At the same time, House Republicans, with some allies in the Senate, are making their own demands, as they work to support Trump's clampdown on immigrants in the U.S.
The House Freedom Caucus has insisted on fuller funding for Homeland Security while certain Republicans are pushing to include other measures, including the SAVE Act, a longshot Trump priority that would require proof of citizenship before Americans are eligible to participate in elections and vote.
Johnson and GOP leaders said they would be talking with lawmakers to see what it will take to win over support.
“Obviously the president really wants this,” Majority Leader Steve Scalise said at the Capitol.
“We always work 'til the midnight hour to get the votes," Scalise said. "You never start the process with everybody on board. You work through it."
Meanwhile, a number of federal agencies are snared in the funding standoff after the government went into a partial shutdown over the weekend.
Defense, health, transportation and housing are among those that were given shutdown guidance by the administration, though many operations are deemed essential and services are not necessarily interrupted. Workers could go without pay if the impasse drags on. Some could be furloughed.
Lawmakers from both parties are increasingly concerned the closure will disrupt the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which they rely on to help constituents after deadly snowstorms and other disasters.
This is the second time in a matter of months that federal government operations have been disrupted as lawmakers use the annual funding process as leverage to extract policy changes. Last fall, Democrats sparked what became the longest federal shutdown in history, 43 days, as they protested the expiration of health insurance tax breaks.
That shutdown ended with a promise to vote on proposals to extend the Affordable Care Act tax credits. But with GOP opposition, Democrats were unable to achieve their goal of keeping the subsidies in place. Insurance premiums spiked in the new year for millions of people.
Trump is already working on an immigration deal to ensure the shutdown doesn't drag on.
Johnson said he was in the Oval Office last week when Trump, along with border czar Tom Homan, spoke with Schumer of New York as they discussed the immigration changes.
Body cameras, which are already provided for in the package, and an end to the roving patrols by immigration agents are areas of potential agreement, Johnson said.
But Johnson drew a line at other Democratic demands. He said he does not think that requiring immigration officers to remove their masks would have support from Republicans because it could lead to problems if their personal images and private information is posted online by protesters.
“I don’t think the president would approve it — and he shouldn’t,” Johnson said over the weekend on "Fox News Sunday."
And Senate Majority Leader John Thune tapped the brakes on the demand from Democrats to require judicial warrants for officers' searches, saying it's likely to be a part of the negotiations ahead.
“It’s going to be very difficult to reach agreement in two weeks,” Thune said at the Capitol.
Democrats, however, said the immigration operations are out of control, and must end in Minneapolis and other cities.
Growing numbers of lawmakers are also calling for Noem to be fired or impeached.
__
Associated Press writers Kevin Freking, Matt Brown and Nathan Ellgren contributed to this report.
House Appropriations Chair Tom Cole, R-Okla., prepares to speak before the House Rules Committee as the panel meets to advance a federal funding package and prevent a prolonged partial government shutdown, at the Capitol in Washington, Monday, Feb. 2, 2026. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
Chairwoman Virginia Foxx, R-N.C., brings the House Rules Committee to order as they meet to advance a federal funding package and prevent a prolonged partial government shutdown, at the Capitol in Washington, Monday, Feb. 2, 2026. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
House Minority Leader Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., speaks during a news conference at the U.S. Capitol, Monday, Feb. 2, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Rod Lamkey, Jr.)
President Donald Trump speaks in the Oval Office of the White House, Monday, Feb. 2, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-La., walks through the House Rules Committee hearing room to meet with Republicans on the panel as they try to advance a federal funding package and prevent a prolonged partial government shutdown, at the Capitol in Washington, Monday, Feb. 2, 2026. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
The U.S. Capitol is photographed Friday, Jan. 30, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Rahmat Gul)
President Donald Trump speaks to reporters at his Mar-a-Lago club, Sunday, Feb. 1, 2026, in Palm Beach, Fla., as he arrives to attend the wedding of White House deputy chief of staff Dan Scavino and Erin Elmore, the director of Art in Embassies at the U.S. Department of State. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., speaks to members of the media at the U.S. Capitol, Thursday, Jan. 22, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Allison Robbert)
