This should put Balls in their court
Don’t worry about the father: Lakers will be improved if they add Lonzo to the mix.
The last time Magic Johnson was involved with a local sports franchise, the Dodgers vanished from the majority of television sets.
Don’t worry. Not even he can mess this up.
Some fortuitous bounces of ping-pong balls Tuesday granted the Lakers the second overall selection in the upcoming NBA draft. They won’t have to hand over their top pick to the Philadelphia 76ers.
And as the Lakers president of basketball operations, Johnson is now in position to draft someone who can change the franchise. He can take LaVar Ball. Sorry, Lonzo Ball. More on the father and his $495 sneakers later.
The Boston Celtics are expected to take Washington guard Markelle Fultz with the top pick. If they determine they’re set in the backcourt with Isaiah Thomas and Avery Bradley, they can turn to Kansas forward Josh Jackson.
Either way, the Lakers could and should land Lonzo. He’s everything this franchise wants, on the court and off — and, yes, that includes his carnival barker father.
He’s a Jason Kidd-like, pass-first point guard who can link a collection of talented players who haven’t
always looked as if they belong on the floor together, much as he did with UCLA last season.
“Lonzo will make D’Angelo [Russell] the ultimate scorer as a two guard,” LaVar told me in February. “He’ll make [Brandon] Ingram a nice slasher. He’ll make [Julius)]Randle want to run the court.”
And he’ll attract other top players, which is critical for a rebuilding franchise. Front-line free agents were said to be reluctant to move to the Lakers and play alongside Kobe Bryant. That shouldn’t be a problem with Lonzo.
This will be important when the Lakers open their checkbooks for the freeagent class of 2018 that can include the likes of Russell Westbrook, Kevin Durant, Paul George and DeMarcus Cousins.
Ball is also proven winner. He has a strange shooting motion, but is a shot maker in critical situations. He can run an up-tempo offense that would offer a visible link to the most glorious period in Lakers history.
As a player who transformed Chino Hills High into a powerhouse and reestablished UCLA as a national contender, he has the local profile to energize the Lakers fan base and become the face of the franchise.
Of course, if Lonzo becomes the face, outspoken LaVar would become the voice. And this is what gives some observers pause.
Except pretty much everything LaVar says is harmless.
Whatever LaVar says, he says with a laugh and a smile, and you don’t know where the joke starts and where it ends. LaVar is a classic button-pusher, a real-life manifestation of an Internet troll.
As for his Big Baller Brand shoes, who’s that hurting outside of Nike and Adidas?
Take LaVar for what he is: entertainment.
Los Angeles could use some of that right now. There is some incredible athletic talent in this city — Mike Trout, Chris Paul, Clayton Kershaw, Corey Seager — but none of them have an oversized personality that transcends their sport.
Whether an outspoken parent is a problem is ultimately decided by the player. If the player can play, the parent isn’t a problem. If the player can’t play, the parent is. Tiger Woods wasn’t hurt by his father’s boasts, was he? Lonzo seems unaffected by his father’s public declarations.
LaVar is Earl Woods with a sense of humor. Some of these other athletes could have used a promoter like him. If he were Trout’s father, Trout would be as popular as he is good.
LaVar has already sold us a heck of a story, about how he envisioned Lonzo playing for the Lakers from the time he was a baby, similar to how he pictured what Lonzo would accomplish at Chino Hills and UCLA.
“I plant the seeds and let them grow,” he said in February.
As for the possibility of Lonzo playing for the Lakers, LaVar said, “I’m going to speak it into existence.”
He’s almost there.