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Lonzo Ball is officially a Laker.
LaVar Ball’s plan of living in Los Angeles, having his sons commit to attending UCLA, and having Lonzo drafted by the Lakers actually worked. And it didn’t take LaVar long to boast about his son’s abilities and what he can accomplish while donning the iconic purple and yellow jersey.
“Lonzo Ball is going to take the Lakers to the playoffs in his first year,” LaVar told ESPN’s Jeff Goodman.
That’s a pretty loft goal considering the Lakers haven’t made it to the playoffs in four years and were 26-56 last season, giving them the third worst record in the league.
But when Lonzo was asked about his pop’s’ comment he stayed on-brand and agreed. “That’s the goal,” Lonzo said when asked about his father’s comments. “You don’t play to lose.That’s definitely the goal.That’s the plan.”
However, it doesn’t sound like Lakers’ head coach Luke Walton is looking that far into the future, he’s worried about the next few months instead.
“I’m a very optimistic person, but I don’t look that far into the future. Right now, I’m hoping [Lonzo] leads us to a couple summer league victories, and we’ll take it from there,” Walton said at the team’s practice facility.
Overall, the Lakers don’t seem to be to worried about LaVar’s involvement in Lonzo’s career. It’s par for the course.
Lakers general manager Rob Pelinka said it best: “I think LaVar is going to be LaVar. Lonzo is going to be a Laker, and he’s going to be part of what we do on the court with the other players that we have, but LaVar is his own person.”
It may be time for the Lakers to trust the process, too.
