EL SEGUNDO – The media gathered en masse at the Lakers’ training facility Wednesday, and in mass, too, just like we used to do for the actual Lakers. This time, we crowded several deep around…
EL SEGUNDO – The media gathered en masse at the Lakers’ training facility Wednesday, and in mass, too, just like we used to do for the actual Lakers.
This time, we crowded several deep around someone who only might be a Laker, Lonzo Ball coming through for us with the most exciting eight minutes this franchise has produced since the end of Kobe Bryant’s 60-point career farewell.
It wasn’ t what Ball said, because it’s never what Ball says, the 19-year-old polished enough to offer answers as bland as his game is bubbly.
Related Articles
NBA draft: Lonzo Ball downplays concerns about LaVar, highlights leadership qualities And it wasn’ t what Ball did because we weren’ t permitted to watch his workout, the Lakers, as far as we know, having him ballroom dance.
It was simply who Ball is, specifically the most intriguing, dynamic and promising player in the upcoming draft.
A perfect-fit selection for the team with the No. 2 overall pick and in overdue need of direction and belief.
The easiest and most emphatic slam dunk around here since Kobe lobbed to Shaq to finish off that impossible Game 7 victory over Portland an era ago.
“Of course, ” Ball said when asked if his desire was to be a Laker. “I want to stay home.”
And the Lakers – assuming Boston takes Markelle Fultz at No. 1 – should want the same thing, Ball the ultimate homegrown talent who can now continue to grow at home.
This has nothing to do with buzz, even as this one-man audition had the feel of being something much grander.
If you think the Lakers need to manufacture hysteria, you probably weren’ t around to witness the delirious anticipation that once surrounded Sun Yue.
This isn’ t about The Dad of Death, either, the boisterous father so attention-attracting that it’s as if – quite unfairly, by the way – the two have become one: LaVar-zo Ball.
No, LaVar Ball didn’ t thunder into his son’s session with reporters Wednesday to proclaim that he could beat Magic Johnson one-on-one, that he taught Kareem Abdul-Jabbar the hook shot or that it is his silhouette the NBA uses as its logo.
Lonzo and LaVar are wildly different personalities who do share plenty, most notably a last name, an obvious love for one another and an abundance of talent to entertain.
But to appreciate the distance that separates them in their longing for the spotlight, realize that Lonzo, in the span of his eight-minute Q&A, managed to answer 58 questions.
Seriously! Five! Eight!
I took the time to count them and then recount them. Hey, I already mentioned the Lakers don’ t need to generate any gratuitous frenzy; we’ re more than happy to do that for them.
Like usual, Lonzo’s responses, while cordial and professional enough, were staggeringly to the point and almost painfully economical, the kid preferring the same rapid pace with which he moves on the court.
This is just a guess, naturally, but I’ m thinking the chatty LaVar couldn’ t make it through 58 questions in eight minutes even if the only possible answers were true or false.
What this is about is something much more concrete than all of that, the Lakers having the opportunity to add the type of player all teams should covet today.
Lonzo is a pass-first, second and also third point guard whose mere presence in one season at UCLA led to teammates who barely knew him adopting his commitment to ball distribution.
Golden State is in the process right now of showing everyone what can happen when an NBA team emphasizes movement and unselfishness.
Yes, the Warriors, unlike the Lakers, also have all-world shooters and a willingness to more than occasionally defend. But teams have to start somewhere, and that somewhere for the Lakers is Ball.
This will be a process, no doubt, Ball last seen being torched by fellow lottery picks De’ Aaron Fox and Malik Monk, then of Kentucky.
The Lakers, however, have been stuck in some kind of process for much too long already. Ball is a definitive step toward the end this franchise and its fans desire.
“They have a lot of good players, ” Ball said of the team he could and should be about to join. “I just think they need a leader, a point guard, and I feel I can bring that to the team.”
He also can bring LaVar, a potential distraction so real that several NBA executives, including those with the Lakers, have been more than willing to publicly discuss.
Personally, I believe the topic – similar to LaVar himself, at times – is mostly just hot air, something to dissect and debate and eventually dismiss with a grin.
More importantly, Lonzo said he believes the same thing, adding that concerns about his father’s feared meddling followed him to UCLA and proved to be unfounded.
“Everybody has an opinion, ” he said. “I know who I am. Other people who know me know who I am. That’s all that matters.”
Well, that and, in two weeks, this team drafting its next franchise-shaping point guard, the excitement generated Wednesday by Lonzo Ball the could-be Laker just the beginning.
