Criticism a ‘reality’ for Ball
Lakers rookie guard has greater scrutiny
Lakers rookie guard has greater scrutiny
Rookie point guard struggles with his shot in the first 13 games of his NBA career is a dog bites man story. Happens all the time.
Rookie point guard Lonzo Ball struggles in the first 13 games of his NBA career is a man bites dog story.
Everyone wants to know what’s happening, mainly because of the outlandish comments made by his dad, LaVar, who, among other statements, said his son is better than Steph Curry and had rookie of the year “sewn up” before even playing a regular-season game.
Given the father’s propensity for hyperbole, reasonable people take the comments with a proper dose of perspective and understand it’s not Lonzo turning up the hype. Reasonable people understand it takes time for rookies to find their way in the NBA.
Still, the words of the father have increased the scrutiny of the son, and Lakers President Magic Johnson didn’t help by proclaiming Ball the new face of the franchise and saying the Lakers expect his jersey will hang in the rafters someday.
It has created unfair and unrealistic expectations, ensuring an already difficult transition from college to the NBA is even more difficult. His struggles are magnified with each missed shot — and hype and pressure outside of his control or doing — and the Lakers just have to live with it.
Despite the shooting struggles — 31.4% from the field — the 20-year-old Ball on Saturday became the youngest player in NBA history to record a tripledouble with 19 points on 7-for-12 shooting, 13 assists and 12 rebounds in the Lakers’ 98-90 loss to the Milwaukee Bucks.
It is evidence that Ball can be very good when his shot is going in.
Said Lakers coach Luke Walton: “Obviously, it helps when you get some of those shots to go in. I thought he did a great job of playing at a pace, creating for others, constantly being the aggressor on the offensive end, keeping the defense on their heels.”
Even Bucks coach Jason Kidd, to whom Ball is often compared, acknowledged Ball’s ability after last week downplaying the comparisons.
“His strengths are finding his teammates and rebounding the ball, making the game easy for his teammates,” Kidd told reporters. “He did that at a very high level tonight.”
For his part, Ball doesn’t seem dis- tracted by the noise or the triple-double.
“I really don’t care,” Ball said of the milestone. “I just wanted to win (Saturday night). I thought we put ourselves in a good position to get it, but it didn’t happen.”
Following last week’s loss to the Washington Wizards, where Ball had a
10-point, eight-assist, eight-rebound performance in which he shot 3-for-12 from the field and 1-for-7 on threepointers, Walton acknowledged the intense criticism for the No. 2 pick.
Asked by The Undefeated’s Mike Wise if Ball’s game is dissected as if he’s a 10-year veteran, Walton replied, “Yeah, absolutely. He’s an incredible player, and he’s 20 years old. He almost had a triple-double. But anytime you turn on any sports talk show, all they talk about is his shot. He’s already playing for the Lakers, so he’s got a lot more pressure on him than I think anyone has in a long time that’s come out from college.”
Ball’s awkward shot — it’s not, to be sure, as pure as Wizards guard Bradley Beal’s — worked for him during his one season at UCLA. That shot is not productive in the NBA right now.
He is 49-for-156 from the field overall and shooting 25% on three-pointers (16
for-64). Among players with at least 100 attempts this season, Ball is second to last in the league in shooting percentage and effective field goal percentage at
36.5% and last in true shooting percentage at 37.8%.
Ball is used to the spotlight and said he’s not concerned about the criticism.
“I really don’t even care, to be honest,” he said. “I know I’ve got to keep shooting and just improve every game.”