Los Angeles Lakers: Jeanie Buss compares Lonzo Ball to Magic and Kobe

Los Angeles Lakers rookie Lonzo Ball has received a lot of praise since being drafted. However, Jeanie Buss might have set the bar even higher.

Since drafting rookie Lonzo Ball, there is a lot of hope and excitement surrounding the Los Angeles Lakers. After winning the Summer League MVP, there has been even more hype surrounding the Lakers and Ball.

After a few tough years in Los Angeles, the hope is that this season is the beginning of their turnaround. After a strong offseason, the Lakers are certainly a better team. However, they are unfortunately playing in the Western Conference.

This offseason, we saw a lot of stars from the East head out West. With most of the top players in the league now in the Western Conference, there is going to be some great matchups throughout the season. Despite this, the Lakers are still one of the most talked about teams in the NBA.

Jeanie Buss recently had an appearance on the Petros and Money Show. During the appearance, she talked about the excited surrounding Ball. Also, she brought up the Magic Johnson comparison. Here’s what she had to say via Corey Hansford of LakersNation.com.

"“No other draft pick, except maybe Kobe Bryant, has had this kind of excitement about him.”“There’s something special about Lonzo […] I think because he just wants to play basketball, he’s selfless. He has a certain charisma and I think the fact that his teammates at UCLA loved playing with him and all the nice things that they have to say about him, I think he’s going to bring an element that’s very similar to Magic Johnson.”"

With such an illustrious history, there are going to be plenty of players to compare Ball too. Since Kobe Bryant was the most recent star of the franchise, many will hope that Ball can be the same type of franchise player as Bryant. While they are completely different players on the court, they will still be linked.

The comparison to Johnson is certainly an interesting one made by Buss. While we haven’t seen Ball play in a regular season game yet, he has the same ability to control the pace of play like Magic did.

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As a tall guard as well, Ball will be able to do a lot of things other guards can’t because of his size. When Ball gets older and stronger, he could be a deadly weapon as a guard posting up. Despite the high expectations, Ball just seems focused on helping the Lakers return to their glory days.