Lonzo Ball says Lakers made a big demand of him
Lonzo Ball says Lakers made a big demand of him
Robert Marvi, LeBron WireSat, May 30, 2026 at 5:13 AM UTC
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Lonzo Ball says Lakers made a big demand of him
Lonzo Ball's time with the Los Angeles Lakers was, by and large, disappointing and frustrating. He was taken by the Lakers with the No. 2 pick in the 2017 NBA Draft out of the University of California, Los Angeles, amidst tons of hype and extremely high expectations. Not only did he not even come close to meeting those expectations, but he has also been plagued by injuries from day one.
The point guard also had a lot going on off the court, including his "Ball in the Family" reality show and the Big Baller Brand sneaker company he got involved in along with his father, LaVar. On a recent podcast, the younger Ball said the Lakers told him to stop wearing his Big Baller Brand sneakers at one point (h/t Fadeaway World).
“Bro, I tried to wear them though,” he said. “I actually wore them for a fair amount of time. And I wore them longer than I wanted to wear them, but me and my pops had got into it and [expletive]. But it came to a point, really, the Lakers made me stop wearing them. Called me into the office and [expletive], played a video, they were like, 'bro look at this [expletive],' and it was like my shoe was already turning before I hit the ground type [expletive]. Like, 'you can’t wear these no more.'”
In his two seasons with Los Angeles, the younger Ball played in a total of 99 games due to multiple injuries, including a severely sprained ankle he sustained during the 2018-19 campaign that forced him to sit out the rest of the season. He was then shipped to the New Orleans Pelicans in the trade that brought Anthony Davis to the Lakers, and while he dramatically improved his 3-point shooting, he couldn't stay healthy.
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Midway through the 2021-22 season, as a member of the Chicago Bulls, the younger Ball sustained a meniscus injury, and he wouldn't play again until October 2024. He has appeared in a total of 70 games since then, and he has shot just 33.9% from the field during that time.
According to Doug Gottlieb of CBS Sports, the Lakers believed the allegedly poor quality of the younger Ball's Big Baller Brand sneakers caused one of his major injuries. The guard himself admitted that it might have been true and said that he didn't have any real injury problems until he started wearing those shoes.
This article originally appeared on LeBron Wire: Lonzo Ball says Lakers made a big demand of him
Source: “AOL Sports”
