In the 2017 NBA Draft, Lonzo Ball, who resides in Chino Hills, California, was drafted second overall by the Los Angeles Lakers, who were his favorite team growing up. When selected by the Lakers, people saw him as the future face of the team, with CEO Magic Johnson, who formerly played for the Lakers saying, "I expect the franchise to retire a Ball jersey in the future" referring to how he expects Lonzo to be a superstar. So far, in 51 games played, he's averaging 10.2 points, 7.0 rebounds, and 7.3 assists while averaging 34.4 minutes. While he is still young and is only 20 years old, his stats are a far cry from saying "superstar." Reports from USA Today and ESPN were used as references while writing this article.

Lonzo Ball's loud mouth father, LaVar, has stated multiple times that all of his three kids are going to be on the Lakers. While his oldest son Lonzo is on the Lakers, his other kids are still not in the NBA and can be drafted when eligible by any team if they do even get drafted. Today, his middle child LiAngelo, who is commonly known as "Gelo," has just submitted and filed papers in order to declare for the 2018 NBA Draft, according to Shams Charania of Yahoo sports. While he will be eligible for the draft, he can be selected by any NBA team if any team chooses to select him.

About Gelo

LiAngelo Ball, a 6'5 guard, is the younger brother of Lonzo Ball. He went to Chino Hills High School, where he averaged 30.3 points a game on the varsity team in his four years there.

After he graduated high school, he joined the UCLA Bruins on a scholarship. His tenure at UCLA didn't last long though. As the UCLA basketball team went on a promotional trip to China, Gelo and two of his teammates were arrested for shoplifting, which garnered international headlines. His father pulled him from UCLA due to his disagreement over the length of the suspension he would of have been receiving for the incident.

With Gelo no longer at UCLA, he signed a professional contract, along with his 16-year-old brother LaMelo, who was pulled out of high school by his father, for BC Vytautas, which is in Prienai, Lithuania. With BC Vytautas, Gelo is averaging 15.7 points, 2.9 rebounds, and 0.8 assists while averaging 25.1 minutes a game. Just today (March 27), he scored 72 points in a BBB challenge game which is not associated with the LKL (Lietuvos Krepsinio Lyga) as it's main purpose is to develop Gelo and Melo as basketball players against youth teams.

He also got 11 rebounds.

Preparing for the draft

In order to showcase his talents, Gelo will be participating in the NBA Draft Combine from May 16-20 in Chicago, where all draft prospects will be attending with NBA scouts and general managers watching. He will also attend the Professional Basketball Combine, which will take place on May 22 and 23 in Bradenton, Florida. This showcase is for international, G-League, and NBA scouts and general managers. Gelo will also work out privately with multiple NBA teams.

Gelo's Odds

Some people are saying that Gelo's chances of getting drafted are not great. On "Undisputed," a sports debate show with Skip Bayless and Shannon Sharpe, Shannon said he is willing to bet $20 that Gelo won't get drafted, which Skip also thinks that Gelo won't get drafted.

Charles Curtis of USA Today has said that if Gelo gets drafted, he will eat a spicy chip. Stephen A. Smith has said that there's ''no way in hell" that LiAngelo Ball gets drafted. Back in November, one NBA GM said: "He's (Gelo) not even on any of our scouting lists, even the extended lists". While a lot of people say he won't get drafted, we will see if that is true on June 21, which is when the 2018 NBA Draft takes place. Good luck Gelo!!!
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