For all of the flack he's gotten over his shooting form and inconsistency at the NBA level so far in his young career, Los Angeles Lakers guard Lonzo Ball recently showed his critics why Hollywood's most popular sports franchise took him so high in last year's draft. On Saturday night, in a tilt against the Milwaukee Bucks, Ball passed LeBron James and officially became the youngest player in the history of the NBA to record a triple-double during a regular season game.
At 20 years, 15 days old, Ball beats James' previous mark by five days. Although the Lakers would fall to the Bucks 98-90, the PG's stat line was still quite impressive, totaling 19 points to go along with 13 assists and 12 rebounds. The defeat drops the Lakers' record to 5-8 but, as he was exiting the Bradley Center after the game in Milwaukee, Ball was steadfast in his approach to continue playing his way. “I really don’t give a … I’ve played this way my whole life,” he told Yahoo Sports. “In today’s NBA, a lot of point guards get buckets, but I go off my impact and what I can do to win games. It’s not going to be scoring every night, but I’m trying to improve that. The way I play, it comes from Dad. He really don’t care about noise either. My dad had me on lesser teams, so I had to do more and it prepares me."
The Lakers have continued to support their franchise point guard in all facets of his game to begin this NBA season, with that aforementioned media noise supposedly not affecting Ball behind the scenes as much as people might think. Head coach Luke Walton says that this triple-double “will keep the media off his back" but, as far as the bench boss in concerned, "[Ball] cares about winning. We all know him: He doesn’t care about a triple-double.”
This news is a welcome bit of positive PR for the Ball family overall, as Lonzo's brother LiAngelo Ball has been the center of attention for the sports tabloids this past week. The aspiring pro basketball player was caught shoplifting in China and arrested by local authorities. According to the most recent reports, he could be staying overseas for another week or two while the legal side of this indiscretion is put to rest.
