After Tuesday night’s 123-114 win over the Atlanta Hawks, LeBron James watched Lonzo Ball and the Los Angeles Lakers fall to the New York Knicks in overtime on a television stationed at the far end of the Cavs’ locker room.
In Cleveland’s win over Atlanta, James turned in 25 points on 11-of-13 shooting from the field, a career-high tying 17 assists, seven rebounds, and two steals. After discussing the Cavs’ performance against the Hawks, the King shifted his attention to Ball, who posted 17 points, eight rebounds, six assists, and two steals in defeat.
A lot has been said of the Ball family over the past few months — especially Lavar, the outspoken patriarch. However, LeBron James seems to admire Lonzo’s humility.
“The kid hasn’t said anything,” James told ESPN’s Dave McMenamin when asked about the hype surrounding Ball. “It’s been everybody else. So, I love his humility. He goes out, every time someone asks him a question, he says, ‘This is not about me, man. I just want to win. I don’t care about what I did.’ I seen he had a triple-double one game and they lost. He was like, ‘I don’t care. We lost.’
James, now in his 15th season of NBA service, said there are similarities that can be drawn between him and the Lakers rookie. Both entered the league at a young age. Both were surrounded by hype. James advised Ball to have patience.
“So, can I draw any parallel to my experience? I mean, of course. I guess when you’re drafted to a franchise, they want you to kind of be the savior. And it takes a while. I mean, listen, man, this guy is 20-something games into his pro career. S— doesn’t happen [that fast]. Here it goes again, it goes back to my instant oatmeal [quote]: Everybody wants it right away. Can he play ball? Absolutely. The kid can play ball. Do guys want to play with him? Absolutely, because it’s a guy who is not about him. It’s about the success of the team. And he gives the ball up, and he passes the ball, and there’s energy behind the ball.”
As most hoops fans know, the Lakers are one of the NBA’s most-storied teams. They have 16 championship banners hanging in the rafters at the Staples Center. LeBron James says being drafted by a team like that, with their No. 2 overall pick, can create a lot of pressure.
“I don’t know what he’s personally going through. I can’t comment on anyone’s situation because I’m not a part of it,” James said. “From the outside looking in, yeah, there’s a lot around him. I mean, he’s the No. 2 pick. He’s drafted to a team that’s not been very good the last few years — who’s built off winning championships. That’s what the Lakers are about. That’s what the Patriots are about. That’s what the San Antonio Spurs are about, the Red Sox and the Yankees. So, when you become a part of that, you become a part of a franchise that’s accustomed to winning.”
Although James did not want to comment much on Lonzo Ball’s mentality, the Cavs star did have an optimistic outlook for his career in the NBA.
“No one knows what he’s going to become,” James told ESPN. “No one knows with anybody when you’re drafted. I don’t care if you’re drafted 60 or you’re drafted first. Did anybody imagine that Isaiah Thomas would be the player that he is today? Being the ‘Mr. Irrelevant’ that they call it? Did anybody know that I would be the player I am? Everybody can think and say and do these things and say, ‘Oh, he has this [attribute] and that [attribute].'”
“Well, I mean, I knew [the player I would grow into],” James said. “So you got to ask Zo. I mean, I knew what I was going to become. I just had that drive. I got a drive about me that I’m not going to let nothing stop me from being as great as I can be. Because, I just knew I had the tools.”
In his closing remarks, James noted that the road to greatness is a bumpy one, especially when the media is watching your every move.
“That s— is tough,” James said, “and if you can’t focus in on the job at hand … You got to have no distractions. You can’t have no distractions when you’re trying to be great. You can block out a lot of s—, but you can’t have no distractions.”
“There’s no such thing as a distraction on the road to greatness. There’s going to be so many people that try to throw you off kilter and try to throw your train off the rails. You just got to be like Seabiscuit. You know Seabiscuit? … Blinders.”
After the Lakers’ loss to the Knicks, Lonzo Ball, who will face the Cavs in Cleveland on Thursday night, said James is the best player in the world.
For now, it’s hard to say exactly how well Lonzo will fare in the NBA. In his 26 games played for the Lakers this season, the former UCLA stand-out has turned in averages of 8.9 points on 39.7 percent shooting from the field, 7.0 assists, and 6.9 rebounds.
Thursday night’s Cavs-Lakers game is scheduled to tip at 8:00 p.m. EST inside Quicken Loans Arena. Fox Sports Ohio and NBA on TNT will have live broadcast coverage.