The Lonzo Ball-Patrick Beverley rivalry now features LaVar Ball as well. LaVar recently blasted Beverley, who reportedly talked trash towards Ball while heading into the locker room after the Los Angeles Clippers beat the Los Angeles Lakers, 108-92.
In an interview with ESPN following the game, LaVar told Beverley to shut up. He also asked who the Clippers point guard is. LaVar added, "He played all last year, and nobody said nothing about him.
Now we are looking at your first game. Why? Because Lonzo's name is attached to it."
LaVar continued to rip Beverly by mocking his game and reiterating that the Clippers playmaker is irrelevant. As of the moment, Beverley is yet to respond to LaVar's statements, but he will likely do so soon.
Beverly successfully shut down Ball last night. His defense limited the Lakers rookie to only three points (1-of-6 shooting), though he grabbed nine boards and tallied four assists.
Tough matchups
Unfortunately for Lonzo Ball, there are no breaks now that he is in the NBA. In the Los Angeles Lakers' next seven outings, he will go up against Eric Bledsoe, Jrue Holiday, John Wall, Kyle Lowry, Ricky Rubio, Reggie Jackson, and Damian Lillard.
After all of this, the Lakers will face the Brooklyn Nets on November 3. That is anticipated by many since it is the first time that Ball is going toe-to-toe with D'Angelo Russell. The Lakers traded Russell in June to make room for the arrival of Ball.
Brandon Ingram underwhelms
Another Los Angeles Lakers prospect who failed to impress aside from Lonzo Ball was Brandon Ingram. In the offseason, there were terrific expectations for Ingram. Lakers president of basketball operations Earvin "Magic" Johnson Jr. wanted him to be the team's top option on offense. Johnson believes Ingram is capable of averaging at least 20 points a night. However, he struggled in the preseason, and the offensive woes continued versus the Clippers.
Similar to Ball, Ingram had a terrible shooting night. The ex-Duke Blue Devils standout went 3-of-15 from the field, almost all those attempts were from close range. In over 30 minutes on the hardwood, Ingram finished with just 12 points, six of which came from the charity stripe. The scoring total is far from the numbers Johnson and Lakers fans are hoping the 20-year-old would produce each game. Hopefully, as the season progress, Ingram would find his groove on offense and live up to the hype.