Lonzo Ball: Something Different this Way Comes
Running before the storm with Lonzo and LeBron: my new post for Forum Blue and Gold. https://t.co/b0wQiYc6Du
— David Murphy (@davem234) August 9, 2018
He is not yet 21 and his sophomore season in the NBA is still months away. The fanfare of being a No. 2 overall pick along with inherent expectations have faded to some extent. And while Lonzo Ball is not exactly the forgotten man, the arrival of a mythical storm god promises to send him on a journey into the unknown.
Ball played just 52 games during his rookie campaign, ultimately sidelined by a balky knee that led to arthroscopic surgery. He is the son of a famously domineering father and is now the father of his own child—daughter Zoey Christina was born to Zo and girlfriend Denise Garcia on July 22. That’s plenty to absorb for anyone’s personal story but the Los Angeles Lakers’ triumphant acquisition of LeBron James gobbled up media space on a quantitatively larger scale. If you want to pile more on the plate, consider the signing of veteran point guard Rajon Rondo—an NBA champion, four-time All-Star and three-time assists leader who could challenge Ball for playing time and a starting position.
Life’s pressures will only build further for Ball, both on and off the court. James may have shown some prescience all the way back in December when he took the rookie aside after a game.
Worthy42, 
mclyne32 (Director), 
LakerTom (Publisher) 2:12 PM on August 9, 2018 Permalink
Love the new article, Dave. LeBron’s arrival as “a mythical storm god” certainly changed the Lakers from Lonzo’s team to LeBron’s team.
How Lonzo handles the challenges of his sophomore season will set the stage for the rest of his career as a Laker.
MongoSlade 5:12 PM on August 9, 2018 Permalink
I wish he coulda got in some meaningful court time this off-season. Hopefully he’s 100% for training camp
Worthy42 9:29 AM on August 10, 2018 Permalink
Same here -- no offseason training could be very detrimental.
Jamie Sweet (Local Ne'er-Do-Well) 5:36 PM on August 9, 2018 Permalink
I hope this season he has a fraction of the pressure and attention he had last season. While I think most of us here agree he handled that level of scrutiny and expectation as well as any rookie could I do think it wore him down. The knee is, hopefully, behind him now. Just get the leg muscles strong, get your conditioning up and keep shooting that rock. The rest of his game is a pretty natural fit next to LBJ. Same goes for a lot of our guard corp.
Not since he played with Wade, Ray Allen and Chris Bosh has James played with so many true play-makers, should be really fun to see once the kinks get worked out and everyone is pretty smart on the squad so I have hope that process is accelerated a bit. We’ll see, could be a bit bumpy early but I don’t see Luke as an over-reactor. All sorts of cool on this Laker team. And crazy, too. Man I can’t wait!!!
mclyne32 (Director) 10:25 PM on August 9, 2018 Permalink
Great post and I agree 100%.
Lonzo will be fine once his shooting percentages increase.
mclyne32 (Director) 11:15 PM on August 9, 2018 Permalink
Great read.