Proving that he is an unstoppable attention vehicle destined for world domination, the NBA has released some numbers that show Lonzo Ball was unquestionably the biggest story at its Las Vegas Summer League this year.
Ball brought attention to the summer proceedings in an unprecedented way, as the Los Angeles Lakers rookie helped sell out a Summer League session for the first time. But even his first steps on the court proved a huge attraction on the Association’s social media pages.
https://twitter.com/Rachel__Nichols/status/887708265076883456
Rachel Nichols correctly pointed out that just Lonzo’s introduction in his first summer league game got more attention in July than some of the biggest dunks or slickest passes of the regular season. Think about all the crazy Giannis Antetokounmpo dunks that were left in the dust by Lonzo walking out on the court and getting a nice cheer. That’s pretty remarkable.
The attention translated over every medium this month, including watching the games themselves. The NBA announced Wednesday that Summer League viewership went up 112 percent over last year’s numbers.
The NBA just released a presser saying that Summer League viewership was up 112% over last year. pic.twitter.com/hyEgtIZxje
— Adam Mares (@Adam_Mares) July 19, 2017
It’s clear by now that not only can Ball play — he took home the event’s MVP award — but that people still want to talk about him at every opportunity. Whether it’s his shoes, his father, or his game itself, Ball has captured the attention of the NBA. It’s up to him what he does under what’s becoming a growing microscope.
