Lonzo Ball is a basketball name you should know. And if you’ve heard of him already, hopefully it’s not for the wrong reasons.
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Ball is a 19-year-old freshman at UCLA who’s projected as a top-three pick in June’s NBA draft. But he might be better known right now as the kid who’s been very publicly compared by his father to Golden State Warriors superstar Steph Curry. A lot more on that later. …
First let’s get you informed on just who Ball is.
Pass first, ask questions last
Ball averaged 14.9 points and 6.2 rebounds over 31 games in the NCAA this season. More importantly, his 7.8 assists led the nation. The Chino Hills, Calif., native is seen as a gifted passer who’s incredibly unselfish. He brings a tempo to games that’s similar to Jason Kidd and, dare we say, Mr. Curry. (Again, more on that later, we promise).
Check out some examples of Ball’s oncourt vision, including his delightful one-handed, full-court passes, via Draft Express.
Family of Ballers
Ball’s family is a basketball player factory. Literally. His father, LaVar, has an athletic pedigree, having spent time as a tight end on practice squads of the NFL’s New York Jets and Carolina Panthers in the 1990s. He married Tina Slatinsky, who played basketball at Cal State Los Angeles.
Together they have three sons: Lonzo, LiAngelo and LaMelo. (The latter two are still in high school, but have already committed to UCLA upon graduation.) The trio played a season of high-school ball together in 2015-16, leading the Chino Hills Huskies to a 35-0 record. The squad had a California-record 18 100-point games in what’s considered one of the best seasons of amateur basketball ever.
Seeing the boys compete together, tearing apart high-school opposition, fulfilled their father’s dream. And he’s made sure to share his pride with anybody who’ll listen.
“We play faster than the Golden State Warriors,” LaVar told The Ringer in 2016. “And my boys have been playing like this since they were little.”
Those comments were just the beginning of LaVar’s documented fascination with Curry and the Warriors …
Curry-flavoured comments
While speaking of Lonzo in Feburary, LaVar said this to Lewis Johnson of the Pac-12 Network:
“I have the utmost confidence in what my boy is doing. I’m going to tell you right now, he’s better than Stephen Curry to me. Put Steph Curry on UCLA’s team right now and put my boy on Golden State and watch what happens.”
Talk about putting pressure on Lonzo.
Outspoken NBA legend and current TNT analyst Charles Barkley didn’t take lightly to that, when he caught wind of the comments.
“Just because you say some s—, doesn’t make it right,” Barkley told The Sporting News. “He’s gonna be better than Steph Curry? That’s what he said. Steph Curry has won a couple MVPs, he’s pretty good. Man, let me tell you something. That’s that AAU s—. You can’t say a guy is going to be better than Steph Curry, a guy who has played 30 college games. I know you can be proud of your son, but at some point, it becomes stupidity.”
LaVar, who also previously said his eldest would only play for the Los Angeles Lakers, before softening his stance, offered this rebuttal to Barkley:
“Here’s the thing, I don’t pull anything back. Whatever I say, I say. It’s just like what Charles Barkley is saying with all these guys. If Charles thought like me, maybe he’d win a championship … I know what my boy is about. I know the work he’s put in. It’s not a one-on-one sport, but if it is one-on-one, I’m going to take the taller, faster, stronger guy.”
Shine in the Madness?
Lonzo has a chance this month to bring the focus squarely back to his work on the hardwood. His Bruins finished the season 28-3 and are a dangerous team heading into the NCAA’s March Madness tournament.
UCLA was on fire to end the season, winning nine straight, and if it parlays that into a run to the Final Four, Ball could have even more time in the spotlight to potentially raise his already strong draft stock, as well as cement himself in the consciousness of basketball fans.
