Lonzo Ball was selected ahead of De’Aaron Fox in the 2017 NBA Draft and many believe that was the right decision for the Los Angeles Lakers. The former UCLA standout has had an interesting Summer League to this point but there have been flashes of his on-court ability and Lakers fans have put on a show in support of their squad in Las Vegas.
However, Fox got the better of Ball in a highly visible NCAA Tournament match-up back in March between Kentucky and UCLA, and that has been a prevailing theme for detractors that don’t believe the hype. Now, there will be a bit of fuel added to the fire, even if for a real reason.
Summer League letdown: I'm told Lakers' Lonzo Ball will rest a sore groin tonight & miss a faceoff/rematch against Kings' De'Aaron Fox.
— Sam Amick (@sam_amick) July 10, 2017
Ball will reportedly miss his team’s Summer League match-up against the Sacramento Kings on Monday evening, though it is important to note that the injury isn’t considered serious.
Lonzo Ball's groin injury is not believed to be serious, but the Lakers are expected to play it safe & give him some rest.
— Sam Amick (@sam_amick) July 10, 2017
Lonzo Ball (groin) is OK, source says. Lakers just wanna play it safe. So no face off vs Fox & the Kings.
— Ramona Shelburne (@ramonashelburne) July 10, 2017
To be fair, Ball is probably nursing an actual injury and there is absolutely no reason to push a guy in meaningless Summer League action if there is any threat of damage. With that said, the optics here are not ideal.
The thought of Ball purposely avoiding a publicized rematch with Fox probably won’t go away any time soon after this news, even if the Internet will be the primary culprit rather than folks around the league. Also, the match-up becomes a lot less intriguing with Fox squaring off against less exciting competition and that isn’t fun for anyone. Even Fox himself was disappointed in the news that he wouldn’t get to square off with Ball again, posting the perfect emoji response on Twitter.
The tweet was only up for a few minutes, but Fox still sent a message with one emoji. Lonzo Ball probably isn’t “shook” or “running scared” from De’Aaron Fox but that won’t stop people from believing it.
