When the Los Angeles Lakers selected Lonzo Ball, he was expected to make his teammates better with his playmaking abilities. So far this NBA season, he has not yet fully accomplished that task, which is fine since he is just a rookie. Unfortunately for him and the Lakers, they are already receiving criticisms due to this, and one of them came from a former star point guard in the league.
TMZ recently caught up with Gilbert Arenas, and he shared his thoughts on Lonzo Ball and the Los Angeles Lakers. Arenas had nothing terrible to say about the game of Ball.
However, he stated that there is too much hype on the former Chino Hills and UCLA standout. For him, that is wrong since the Lakers have a "bad" team.
Arenas is a non-believer of the expectation that Ball is going to make his teammates better. According to him, the only way for Ball's teammates to improve is to work on their game. The former Washington Wizards franchise player added that the likes of Shaquille O'Neal and Michael Jordan did not become greats because a point guard helped them.
Ball versus Grizzlies
While speaking to TMZ, Gilbert Arenas also mentioned that Lonzo Ball is not a scorer. That was again evident Sunday, November 5, when the Los Angeles Lakers defeated the Memphis Grizzlies at home, 107-102.
In 35 minutes of action against Memphis, Ball only had nine points for the Lakers. The 19-year-old shot poorly as he went 3-of-13, including 1-of-8 from three-point territory. Despite the continuous struggles when it comes to scoring, Ball is showing glimpses of making his teammates better. In the victory over the Grizzlies, he dished out nine assists.
By the numbers
In 10 games (all starts) for the Los Angeles Lakers this season, Lonzo Ball is averaging 8.8 points, 6.4 rebounds, 6.9 assists, and 1.1 steals per contest. He has finished double-digits in scoring twice. The first time was when he exploded for 29 points in a 132-130 win over the Phoenix Suns in October. In that outing, he recorded his first double-double as well, as he had 11 rebounds too.
The second time was when the Lakers blew out the Detroit Pistons, 113-93, at the Staples Center to end the month of October. Ball finished that game with 13 points.
There are two games this season where Ball had at least 10 assists. Ball registered a career-best 13 assists in a 119-112 loss to the New Orleans Pelicans. In the Lakers' outing following that defeat, he tallied 10 in a big 102-99 victory over the Washington Wizards.
