While recent years have not been trophy-laden for the Los Angeles Lakers, they are still considered as a top NBA franchise. The sixteen-time NBA champions took center stage in the NBA preseason against the Minnesota Timberwolves on Friday. Even though they ended up losing the game, the fans got a glimpse of Lonzo Ball, a player many analysts see as a future Lakers star.
18,000 passionate basketball fans packed the Honda Center in Anaheim, California, and had their eyes cast on the No. 2 overall pick of the 2017 NBA Draft. Whenever the ball was passed to Ball, there was a sudden uproar in the audience and the excitement they felt was palpable.
Glancing at his face, it was certain that the 19-year-old was loving every moment of his time in the spotlight and was keen to make an immediate impact.
How did Ball's first audition go?
The Lakers' rookie is one of the hottest prospects in the game, so it did not come as a major surprise that his preseason debut against the Timberwolves was treated as an extremely big deal. Moreover, after some of his sub-par performances in the Summer League, fans were interested to see how the 19-year-old would bounce back.
He did a decent job given the minutes he was on the court of play. Ball registered an impressive eight assists and also tallied seven rebounds and a couple of steals. While he was guilty of giving away possession on three occasions, it was a decent outing for the youngster.
Ball was 2-of-9 shooting from the field and 1-of-5 from three-point range.
While these are not bad numbers for a rookie, Ball's performance could have been better. There are facets of his game that still need working on, and it will be interesting to see which player turns up against the Denver Nuggets at the Staples Center on Monday.
Does he need to start being slightly selfish?
Usually, in team sports, selfishness is an attribute that most head coaches like to eradicate as it disrupts the cohesion and smooth-functioning of any squad. However, a little bit of it is needed as its absence can result in adverse situations. Such was the case with Ball against the Timberwolves.
Saying that he cost his team the game will be unfair, but he was criticised for forcing passes way too often when he had opportunities to take his own shots.
Lakers coach Luke Walton also pointed out the lack of selfishness in Lonzo Ball's game. According to Yahoo! he stated that "He's so unselfish that sometimes he has good shots for himself and he tries to get someone else a shot. We want him taking those. Players and scouts in this league are going to know that he wants to play make, so we're looking for him to be more aggressive as a scorer with the ball."
