Los Angeles Lakers rookie Lonzo Ball has been battling an ankle injury but says he will be on the court opening night.
Los Angeles Lakers rookie point guard Lonzo Ball has recently been sidelined with an ankle injury. Ball injured his ankle against the Denver Nuggets on October 4th in the preseason. He has not played in a game since, missing the remainder of the preseason.
Since he has not been able to get onto the court, there were some worries that he would not be ready for the regular season. With Kentavious Caldwell-Pope suspended the first two games of the season, there were some fears the Lakers projected starting backcourt could both miss opening night.
While we know Caldwell-Pope will not be out there, it sounds like Ball will be ready to make his NBA regular season debut on opening night against the Los Angeles Clippers.
Ball practiced in full this week and declared himself ready to go for Thursday night against the Clippers.
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“No, I’m playing. For sure,” Ball said, shooting down any chance that he misses the season opener. Opening night of a rookie season is a special time, so it is good that Ball will be able to partake. However, it is something that he downplayed a little bit.
“It’s the opener. That’s all there is to it. Gotta get a win,” Ball said. After winning the Las Vegas Summer League and playing in the preseason, Ball is probably ready to get things going for real. The regular season will have a different feel than the Summer League and preseason, but this is what he has been prepping his whole life for.
The regular season will not be too big for Ball. He has plenty of experience in high-pressure situations from high school and college at UCLA. However, he did admit that he is a little rusty since he has been sidelined for a little while.
"“Definitely a little rusty,” Ball agreed. “I had a lot of turnovers today. But like I said, as long as I’m ready for Thursday, that’s all that matters. … My wind is not that bad to be honest. … A couple of passes I usually make were short today. But I’ll be ready for Thursday.”"
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The Lakers have high expectations for Ball. They would love to see him dominate from the first game, but that is unlikely to happen. Ball will have a difficult matchup against defensive ace Patrick Beverley in his regular season debut, but you can expect him to face the challenge head-on.