Los Angeles Lakers Head Coach Luke Walton revealed after shootaround on Sunday that rookie point guard Lonzo Ball could miss the rest of the preseason with a minor ankle sprain. Despite the legitimacy of Ball’s injury, it didn’t stop the internet from clowning on Ball for avoiding another matchup with former Kentucky rival and current Sacramento Kings point guard, De’Aaron Fox. Why would Ball duck Fox, you ask? Well, first of all, he probably isn’t, but let’s not let facts get in the way of a good story.
Fox torched Ball in Lonzo’s final game for UCLA in the Sweet 16 round of March Madness to the tune of 39 points, four assists, and three rebounds on 13-of-20 shooting. Ball put up an underwhelming 10 points, eight assists, and three rebounds on 4-of-10 shooting, and we’ve officially got a rivalry, folks.
From there, LaVar Ball and Fox’s dad traded shots in the media, and while in Vegas for summer league, Ball sat out the Lakers’ game vs. the Kings with a groin injury.
We’ve already established that Ball could miss the rest of the preseason with an ankle sprain, so while his absence from Sunday night’s game against Fox and the Kings isn’t surprising, it did further the prevailing narrative that Ball doesn’t want to play against Fox. The Ball-less Lakers defeated the Kings 75-69 on Sunday night in a preseason game so terrible that I’m embarrassed to admit I sat through the entire thing.
Fox had his moments, though, with the most notable being this fantastic inside-out dribble to the lane for two.
The game came and went. The internet made Lonzo Ball jokes, but with the confirmed severity of Lonzo’s injury made public, this story had mostly gone away until DeMarcus Cousins saw the above Fox move on Instagram and decided to chime in. Bless you, Boogie.
Y'all see this, @sactownroyalty, @LakersSBN? 🔭👀 pic.twitter.com/Sm6ASdfsQo
— Brew Hoop 🏆🦌 (@brewhoop) October 9, 2017
“Shorty gotta stop running from that action,” Cousins commented.
This is a fascinating comment from a couple of different fronts. On one hand, Cousins and the Kings had a really messy breakup, most of which was caught on camera. Everyone has since moved on, but in a vacuum, it’s a little bizarre to see Cousins address a Kings player, let alone promote one. On the other hand, Fox is a Kentucky guy, and if you know anything about Cousins, you know he puts loyalty above all else. Boogie bleeds blue, so it’s not especially surprising to see him publicly take Fox’s side like this.
The next question is, does Cousins know something we don’t, or is he just adding fuel to the internet fire? Boogie has a rich history hilarious internet moments, so I’m inclined to believe he just popped in the comments to make a fun joke to add to his collection. Regardless of Boogie’s intent, the Lakers play their first regular season game against the Kings on Nov. 22nd, and we can’t wait.
