Los Angeles Lakers: Is Kawhi Leonard opening a goodbye to Lonzo Ball

(Harry How/Getty Images)
(Harry How/Getty Images)

In the wake of the upcoming NBA Draft, many of the Los Angeles Lakers, most conspicuously the polarizing point guard Lonzo Ball, could be on their way out.

Throughout the entirety of the 2017-18 Los Angeles Lakers campaign, a noticeable team strength was their chemistry.

Many of the young Lakers, most noticeably second overall pick Lonzo Ball and No. 27 overall pick Kyle Kuzma, developed secure friendships with each other. With nothing to fight for, the Lakers young core, not including Julius Randle, established a bond that many other teams lacked. In this season’s offseason, however, that bond might be broken.

Just recently, Lonzo Ball made headlines when he wrote and uploaded the single “Kylie Kuzma” to iTunes.

Though it may have won the roast wars, Ball may have gotten too far with his judgement. In the lyrics (h/t to Genius), he said

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"“…Big Baller Brand getting bread, little Kuz is getting crumbs . . . Don’t know who your daddy is, well your a** is getting sonned”"

An important note to mind: Kyle Kuzma never met his biological father. Though Lonzo probably meant no harm to Kuzma, losing your father at any age is a tough blow on the family and a child’s raising.

Kuzma, more importantly, was the better rookie than Lonzo Ball last season. It takes no precedent here, but Ball probably went too far in that regard and at the worst possible time, as well.

Kawhi Leonard, according to reports from ESPN Senior NBA Insider Adrian Wojnarowski, still does not have his relationship “healed” with San Antonio. Leonard also still has not had his “heart-to-heart” talk with Spurs Head Coach Gregg Popovich.

Wojnarowski believes that Los Angeles has a mutual interest in Kawhi Leonard. With trade talks possibly ramping up, it may be Lonzo Ball that allows Luol Deng‘s horrific contract to get sent over to San Antonio. Possibly, along with another prospect and the 25th overall pick, something Magic Johnson and Rob Pelinka are certainly opening to doing.

The lesson that Lonzo Ball has not learned yet is that basketball is a business. He still has not yet talked to his father about how he is effectively ruining the Lakers franchise point guard’s name, as he is often synonymous with Ball’s brand and style of play.

Next: Lonzo Ball 2018 Offseason To-Do List

It is always fun to jab and poke at your friends, but this is not AAU, and Ball has yet to realize this is the National Basketball Association.

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