Los Angeles Lakers rookie point guard Lonzo Ball is ‘disgusted’ by the losing according to his father, LaVar Ball.
Los Angeles Lakers rookie Lonzo Ball has had an interesting start to his NBA career. He was one of the most hyped prospects in a long time and was a polarizing player at UCLA.
At UCLA, Ball set records. He led the nation in assists with 7.6 per game. His passing is at an elite level as he was an outstanding distributor. Ball was a big part of the Bruins turnaround, as UCLA went from 15 to 32 wins with Lonzo leading the way.
Winning is something that Ball has done throughout his basketball career. In high school, at Chino Hills, he went undefeated and won a championship his senior year along with his brothers, LiAngelo and LaMelo. At UCLA, he led the Bruins to the Sweet 16.
The NBA brings plenty of challenges for Ball. It takes a while to adjust to the speed and physicality of the game. However, arguably the biggest adjustment, at least for Ball, is handling losses.
Los Angeles Lakers
The Lakers are barely through a quarter of their season with an 8-15 record. Ball has not lost 15 games combined in the past five years but has reached that number in less than two months in the NBA.
The Lakers are currently riding a five-game losing streak. Los Angeles is struggling to get victories as the young team looks to find their way. The losing can have a negative impact on the team, but losing is something they have to learn to deal with.
Learning to deal with the losing is something Ball will have to adjust to. However, his father LaVar Ball says that Lonzo is disgusted and not used to losing like this.
LaVar has been a source of quotes for the media for a long time. If you put a microphone in his face, he will provide you with some quotes to print. In his appearance on SirusXM NBA Radio, he did not disappoint. That is where he discussed Lonzo dealing with the losses piling up.
"“He’s disgusted. He’s not used to losing like this. The Lakers should build around Lonzo. Why are they sitting him down and not starting him [in] the fourth quarter? This is why the record is raggedy.”"
LaVar is most likely referring to the Lakers last game. Lonzo did not play in the fourth quarter of the Lakers loss to the Houston Rockets. Part of the reason Lonzo was on the bench for the fourth quarter was that he was dealing with calf issues.
Ball didn’t blame the calf issues for his poor play, but it had to play a part in Luke Walton keeping Lonzo on the bench the final 12 minutes. The game wasn’t very close, so pushing Lonzo despite some soreness made little sense.
This isn’t the first time that LaVar has questioned the Lakers coaching strategy. Earlier in the season, LaVar questioned how Walton and the Lakers staff weren’t coaching Lonzo hard enough. Earlier this week the Lakers began enforcing a rule known as the LaVar Ball rule, keeping media from interacting and interviewing family and friends of the players.
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The Lakers can do their best to quiet down LaVar, but he will always find an outlet to share his opinion. It is what he does, and there are media outlets that love it. LaVar is allowed to have his own opinion, it just gets shared more than other family members of other players.