Lonzo Ball came into the NBA with as much hype as any rookie we’ve seen in some time, so it’s not a surprise that some people have taken pretty strong stances on his early season struggles. Through 10 games, Ball is doing a solid job setting up his teammates and grabbing rebounds, but he’s had a really tough time putting the ball through the hoop.
Ball is averaging 8.8 points per game. He’s hitting 29.9 percent of his shots from the field and 23.4 percent of his threes. His quickness and shooting form were both concerns coming into the league, and through the small sample size of 10 games, those concerns have been valid.
So when Ball went to Magic Johnson for some coaching, the Lakers’ president of basketball operations had some advice on how he can fix his jumper.
Lonzo on the recent tips Magic's been giving him: 'Keep my head up & on my shot, he says I’m falling back a little too early."
— Serena Winters (@SerenaWinters) November 6, 2017
Ball is the kind of player who can fill it up when he gets hot, but so far, his only game where he’s looked like a dynamic scoring threat came against the Phoenix Suns. It was the Lakers’ second game of the year, and in the 132-130 win, Ball had 29 points on 12-for-27 shooting.
It’s not time to panic if you’re the Lakers — with how much hype Ball had, it’s kind of hard to remember that he’s a 20-year-old rookie who is still finding his way on the court. It is exceedingly likely that he’ll figure things out as the season goes on, because he is a rookie, and this is something that happens with rookies. Or maybe he just needs to play more in the fourth quarter like his dad says. Who knows.
