Amidst career-threatening injury, Lonzo Ball feels SMUG about ‘fame filled’ pre-NBA days
Lonzo Ball says that he was so popular in high school that they had to move his games to huge arenas, and tickets to watch him play cost hundreds of dollars.
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Lonzo Ball (Rick Loomis / Los Angeles Times)
LaMelo and Lonzo Ball were a phenomenon even before making it to the NBA. During their high school years at Chino Hills, they were part of one of the most dominant high school teams of all time, winning all 35 games in the season alongside their brother DiAngelo. Lonzo was so dominant during his high school days that he had been predicted to be an NBA star since 7th-grade, a prediction that turned out to be true.
Speaking about his popularity in high school on Trae Young’s “From the Point” podcast, Lonzo mentioned that his senior year at Chino Hills was like a movie. They had to move to larger arenas for their games since they were always sold out. Fans were paying hundreds of dollars just to watch high school players who were far from the league. Lonzo said, “My senior year was like a movie. I mean my other brother came, Melo. That was a lot of fun, we had to move arenas to go to bigger places just because everything was sold out. People were like scoping tickets for like hundreds of dollars to go see high school kids. It was pretty wild.”
Lonzo was one of the highest-rated prospects in history. Even after attending UCLA, he made sure everyone knew he would be a star in the league. As the point guard, he led the collegiate team to the best offense in the nation during his one-and-done season at UCLA. Following that, he was drafted by the Los Angeles Lakers in 2017 with the second overall pick.
Lonzo Ball to miss the entire 2023-24 season
Chicago Bulls star Lonzo Ball has been one of the best two-way guards in the league every time he has been able to showcase his talent on the court, but injuries have stopped him from developing into the perennial All-star he was expected to become coming out of UCLA. However, fans might have to wait another season, as according to reports, Lonzo will miss the entirety of the 2023-24 season due to the knee issue he has been experiencing since his Lakers days.
The Lakers have reported that it was the shoes from the Big Baller Brand (BBB), founded by his father Lavar Ball, that caused him to have knee problems because the shoes were poorly made and weren’t designed to be used by a professional basketball player at all. Previously, Lonzo had also said that the shoes broke down during a game in the 2017 summer league.
Once touted as a generational talent, Lonzo has only played 252 professional games in his 6-year career, and he played his last game in January 2022. He has undergone three surgeries on his knee, giving himself some hope to return to the court sometime in the 2024-25 season. The Bulls have internally discussed the possibility that Ball might never play again and have been granted a $10.2 million disabled player exception while Lonzo tries to make a comeback on the court.
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Ritvik Malhotra
(1085 Articles Published)